For We Once So Loved The World
by HowlingDarkness95
Summary: When an earth shattering secret is revealed, all hope seems lost as the hero of Olympus sinks into despair, going into the shadows where he is content to remain for the rest of his life. But the Fates are cruel, and the once-hero is once again drawn into a war. Yet in the midst of such turmoil, he may find a kindred spirit to weather the storm with.
1. Prologue

**Hey guys! This is technically my first story, so go easy on me okay? Well, I've been wanting to write a story for awhile now, but between moving houses and studies and exams, I didn't really get the chance to even look at my computer. Now that my major exams are over, I can finally sit down and start putting my fantasies to words. Just a heads up though, I'm not American, I don't even live anywhere near America, so if my geography is incorrect, please let me know! All I know of the landscape comes from books that I've read that are based in America. Constructive criticism is welcome! No flames please, or I'll get Loki to absorb the flames. Him being the God of Fire and all. One last note! This takes place after the Avengers and the Son of Neptune, I haven't read MoA or HoH yet so I'm disregarding it. Also, although I have watched TDW, I have no idea how to incorporate the story into this fic so bear with me! But there may be elements of TDW n this fic. Ps. Sorry for the extremely long author's note!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, Disney or Tom Hiddleston. If I did, I would covet Loki and keep him in my closet. (just kidding, but I'd probably just hide Tom Hiddleston in my house or something..)**

_Alaska_

The rhythmic sound of ice breaking was a constant in the icy landscape of Alaska. A single figure remained in the clearing, standing out against the white landscape. Sweat dripped into the boy's eyes as he panted heavily, his raven black hair plastered against his neck from the hours of training that he had committed himself to. He held a sword in his right hand, surging forward to slash at the block of ice before him, rolling with the momentum and coming up to parry an imaginary strike. He twirled the sword in his hands and dashed forward in a flurry of blows aimed at and around the block of ice. His sword flew around him, lopping off the top of the ice his blade lightly touching the ground. The clearing fell silent, save for the harsh pants of the boy. Regaining his breath, he straightened up, glancing at the clearing through narrowed eyes. _Must have been too strung up recently, _he mused, making his way down the glacier, there were huge gouges in the ice around him, and small bits of chipped ice lay scattered across the clearing. He looked up at the clear sky, oceanic green eyes swirling with pain and frustration as memories of the last time he was in Alaska assaulted him. He closed his eyes, breathing slowly to control his anger; he didn't want another relapse, not even in this desolate place. He opened his eyes, hard emerald glittering in the morning light. He turned and left the clearing, making his way towards a metallic dome at the bottom of the glacier.

High above Alaska, in the golden realm of Asgard, Odin Allfather sat upon the throne, his lone eye gazing into the distance, seeing and yet unseeing.

"Father?"

Odin blinked, looking down at his first born who knelt at his feet, gesturing for him to rise.

"Has something happened father?" Thor asked. The king sighed, "Nothing, the realms are silent, peace, it seems, has deigned to make its presence known. It is far too quiet…" he broke off eyes becoming unfocused once more. Thor frowned; his father seemed off recently, more weary than usual. "Father", he began hesitantly, waiting for his father's focus to return to him, "if there is nothing that troubles you, I would head back to Midgard today."

If the Allfather gave any indication of displeasure at his insistence on returning to the mortals, he did not show it. Instead, he waved a hand at his son, who inclined his head and left the hall, his heavy footsteps echoing. Odin sighed again, he felt a soul deep weariness. He had thought that after apprehending the trickster there would be some semblance of peace and normality. But there was a sinister quality to the peace shrouding the nine realms. The king had thought that to end the actions of his wayward second son, but Thor had spoken to him of Loki controlling several mortals with the scepter like a puppeteer.

While Odin knew that any accomplished seidr-master, and Loki was far above that level, could influence the mind of another, Thor had described it differently. He had claimed that the mortal's eyes had changed in color, and that it required direct contact between the scepter and the victim's chest. As far as the Allfather knew, a _seidr-_master's influence over another would not have changed he other's eye color, nor would it have been broken so easily with a mere physical blow. The scepter itself was yet another disturbing thought. He had never seen a weapon of the sort before, nor the power it contained within it. While Loki could be proficient with a spear, he normally preferred the use of his own daggers. From the moment he could hold a weapon, his youngest son had only relied on the weapons he chose as his.

Never had he witnessed his youngest claim another's weapon willingly. Even the gifts given to him for his coming of age had been altered by various enchantments to suit his needs. To hear Thor claim that Loki had willingly used the weapon and had not shown signs of having used his own daggers or his vast array of spells sent warning bells ringing in the old king's head. He sighed, he did not want to believe that Loki had been a puppet in another's hands, but with the evidences pointing to that undesirable conclusion, he feared the worst. Loki was strong enough to break out of enchantments of his mind, if there was one who could influence him to such a degree… Odin sighed, something had been set in motion by the events that happened while he was in Odinsleep and Thor was banished. He had inkling to who lurked in the void, but he refused to acknowledge the thought. It felt like the calm before the storm, except this time he did not know if Asgard would survive the storm on the horizon.


	2. Chapter I

**Author's note: Wow, okay I was so not expecting this response! Thanks a lot guys! :D Okay, remember how I said that there probably won't be any TDW spoilers or events? Well, I sorta lied. It kinda just decided to include TDW events. Sigh. Anyway, enjoy! Not too much action here, but I promise you that it'll come in the next chapter! I want to set up some stuff first before jumping into the action. **

**In reply to ****ArianandXaia, this story takes place after the Avengers! sorry to everyone who was confused! it disregards iron man 3 as well.**

**Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Marvel or any of its characters, neither am I Rick Riordan so PJO doesn't belong to me either. Sigh.**

_Alaska_

Percy strolled to the metal dome, nodding to the guards at the entrance as they stepped back, his sword sheathed in its scabbard strapped to his back. As he walked through the compound, people moved out of his path with their heads bowed down, unable to withstand the cold, emotionless mask he wore. He turned the corner, swiping his card before entering his room. He placed his sword on his bed and quickly stripped off his clothes, changing into a fresh set. He threw his clothes into the laundry chute and picked up his sword, making his way quickly to the lab on the top floor. As he neared the lab, he heard an obnoxious voice echoing down the hallway. His stride faltered for a moment, mouth twisted in annoyance when he realized who exactly S.H.I.E.L.D had called in to analyse the readings. Percy sighed, _best to get this over and done with, _he thought, moving to enter the code that would allow him entrance into the lab.

"Mr. Stark, I wasn't aware that Director Fury had sent you in." he drawled, stepping into the lab and nodding at a meek looking Bruce. Tony Stark grinned at the deadpan voice emanating from one of SHIELD's finest agents. "Agent! How nice of you to join us! I was beginning to think that you weren't coming down from that mountain of yours."

Percy felt his eye twitch in irritation as he scowled, "It's Agent Jackson Stark, its not that hard to remember. And it's a glacier, not a mountain."

Tony shrugged, eyes never leaving the screen in front of him, "Big, tall thingy which is hard to climb? Definitely a mountain."

Percy scowled even more, deciding to ignore the billionaire genius, he turned to Bruce Banner, "Doctor", he said, nodding to him, "What's your conclusion?" Bruce nodded back, drawing his hand across the screen to pull up a series of readings. "Well, as far as I can tell, there are traces of gamma radiation in the atmosphere, which I suppose is what was sent here for-"

"But gamma radiation isn't the only surprising thing, it's the fact that the energy readings are somewhat similar to, well, New York."

Percy turned around to see Tony staring at him, a serious expression on his face, and that alarmed him more than any word that came out of his mouth because Tony Stark was never _ever_ serious unless something drastic was about to happen. And judging from to uncomfortable weight that had settled in his stomach, he was not going to like this drastic event one bit.

He glanced from Bruce Banner to Tony Stark, "_What do you mean by 'somewhat similar to New York_'?" he hissed, "Is there another portal opening above us anytime soon?" The two scientists shared a look, Bruce clearing his throat awkwardly, "We don't think that a portal is going to open, at least, not one like New York-"

"But one could open nonetheless?" Percy demanded.

The bespectacled scientist looked uncomfortable, "Well, in theory. We're comparing the readings taken when the Tesseract opened the portal in the SHIELD base, and the one which opened in New York. The patterns of the energy spikes are similar, but this one isn't as high, it's more of a fluctuation of energy, but the readings are not in the high range."

"Yet." Percy stared at the two geniuses, " Its not in the high range yet. Right?"

"No it isn't," Tony agreed, "And we're trying to prevent it from climbing higher." He shifted over to another corner of the lab, tinkering with the objects on the table as he spoke, "I would be jumping like a kid on a sugar rush by now but even I don't wanna deal with another…incident. Like New York."He said, voice devoid of any emotion.

Percy chose not to comment on his tone, choosing instead to walk over to where the genus was tinkering with a device. "What are you making?" He asked. Tony glanced at him briefly, "This is the baby that will save us if a portal ever decides to open!" he grinned. Percy stared at him, contemplating the consequences of decking the billionaire before deciding it wasn't worth it. He turned to the other, saner scientist in the room. "Translation?" he asked. Bruce chuckled, "its sort of an EMP device."

"EMP device? What for?"

Tony shook his head, giving a mock hurt look, "Kid, you really need to brush up on your science, the portal is made up of several energy wavelengths, so we're creating this baby," he gestured to the hunk of metal sitting on the table, "to disrupt the wavelengths such that the portal will close."

Percy looked at the metal lump, raising an unimpressed eyebrow, "It's a prototype…" Tony amended.

Percy rolled his eyes, "so this….thing… is supposed to be able to close a portal?"

"Well, not so much close as a forced shut down of the portal." Bruce said, "by disrupting the wavelengths, we're basically destroying the stability of the portal, kind of like what Natasha did in New York.."

Percy's eyes flashed, "Well, I suppose looking at readings all day would be boring, finish that thing quickly, I have a feeling we're going to need it sooner than we think."

Tony grinned, mimicking a flourishing bow, "Aye Aye captain!", ignoring the way Percy's scowl deepened as he marched out of the room.

As soon as the doors hissed shut, Bruce whirled around and leveled Tony with a heavy stare, "Tony, you shouldn't pick on him so much" he scolded, "he's just doing his job."

Tony waved his hand at Bruce, "Awww, but he's so fun to tease! Do you even see how his face contorts?"

"Tony…"

Tony turned to Bruce, putting down his wrench, "It's for his good Bruce, he needs to lighten up. I mean, you weren't there, well you were, but it was the Hulk, not you, so you probably won't remember anyway-"

"Tony" Bruce interrupted. "Anyway, that's not the point, the point is that you didn't see him, that day, you didn't see how he looked like. We all did, well, except for point break cause he was with his psycho little brother."

Tony turned fully to look at Bruce, "Have you ever see him smile?". "And that was rhetoric, don't answer that." He said, when Bruce opened his mouth. "He hasn't, that's why. In three years, he hasn't smiled a genuine smile Bruce. And that scares me because even Tasha has cracked a smile."

Bruce looked down, he had been introduced officially to the boy before, and had taken a liking to him if only for the fact that he didn't care about the other guy. He frowned down at his work, Tony's impromptu speech running through his head.

* * *

Percy marched out of the lab, the Canadians had complained of random power surges and shortages a few weeks before that left cities dark, only for the power to come back online by itself a few minutes later. Television screens would suddenly fizz and signals would be lost or scrambled. Any electronic device would suddenly stop working for a while, before it started working again. While this normally wouldn't have been under SHIELD's jurisdiction, they had managed to detect energy readings and slight traces of gamma radiation that were similar to the ones that the Tesseract gave off in the SHIELD base, and it was enough to prompt Fury to send in a couple of SHIELD agents and lab technicians. They used the spectrometers that Doctor Banner had calibrated aboard the Helicarrier to try to pinpoint the origin of the energy spikes, which led them to set up a base at the foot of the glacier, where the ground was stable and the scientists could get readings. Since there were no random aliens rampaging around, the Avengers weren't called in. Barton and Romanov were on separate missions, and Fury needed a high level agent to oversee the entire project. Hill was out of the question, and Coulson was still confined to desk jobs, and would probably stay that way if Fury had his way. So, that left Percy, who knew about the Avengers and everything related to them because he was at ground zero, the only high ranking agent left who had clearance to be involved in such _extraterrestrial_ happenings. _Not that he minded_, he mused, _this mission was actually quite refreshing. _He hadn't been to Alaska in about four years and he was enjoying his time in the icy landscape. Well, more so than the rest of the base, who constantly complained about the perpetual cold. That, and the fact that being on the Helicarrier scared him. It was hard to get rid of the deep rooted fear that you were going to be struck down by lightning if you ever went higher than the height a Pegasus could take you. _Of course_, he thought bitterly, _it's not as though Zeus had any reason to zap him into oblivion anymore. _He shook his head, not wanting to think of the past, walking to the lone room in the basement. He placed a hand on the scanner, waiting for the cheerful _beep_ of the machine to signal his entrance.

He waved away the salutes of the guards, facing the petite scientist at the corner of the room. "Riley, report."

The girl looked up at him, "Sir, there is practically nothing to report, all our results are inconclusive."

He narrowed his eyes, "How so?"

She chewed on her lip, "its like the problem which was reported that drew our attention sir, one minute everything is working fine, the next minute, any electronic devices stop working. Any scanners we have go haywire. All we can get is what we've already predetermined, that that thing is causing all of these problems."

Percy frowned thoughtfully, glancing at the blood red liquid swirling behind the glass like barrier at the back of the lab. He turned back to the scientist, "You haven't tried taking samples of the liquid? And where are the other two anyway?"

"Edward and Michael are upstairs, said they'd grab something to eat, they haven't had a proper meal since the day before." She said.

"The samples?" Percy prompted.

Riley wrung her hands nervously, "We couldn't get any samples sir. Every time we tried to get near that thing…" she waved her hand at the barrier as if asking him to try going near it. Percy frowned, walking over to the glass-like barrier, placing his palm on it. The second he did that though, the swirling red liquid struck out viciously, slamming into the barrier with such force that hairline fractures could be seen on it. He flinched black reflexively, hand coming up to grip the hilt of his sword before instinctively recognizing that there was no danger. He looked at the fractures, narrowing his eyes as they smoothed over again. The door hissed open to reveal two male scientists who looked completely flustered, as if they had ran the whole way down from the cafeteria, _which,_ Percy thought, _they probably had._ One of the men piped up, "Oh god, we're sorry sir! Its just, we wanted to take a short break-" Percy waved down their concerns, choosing instead to turn to Riley, "Explain this." He demanded.

"It's what I meant sir, we can't take any samples because we can't get near it. I know that you've altered the barrier to allow us to get in but we can't even get close to that barrier. You touching it was the closest its allowed." She said.

Percy frowned thoughtfully, glancing at the sinister liquid twisting and coiling like a snake behind the barrier. He could almost hear it screaming, feel the power held within the innocuous form of a liquid. He turned to the three scientists, "Continue your scans, it's not possible that nothing can be done." The three of them looked uncertainly at each other, but not daring to disobey him, nodded their assent. He left the lab, trying so very hard to resist the siren call of the well of power floating behind him.


	3. Chapter II

**Author's Note: Hey guys, I am so so so sorry for this super late update! Between New Year's party and countdown and the holidays and having to attend mass and a friend's renewal of marriage vows, I haven't actually been able to even touch the computer! That being said, this is a huge chapter. Longest I've ever done! Please let me know what you think about the fight scenes, I personally think that they seem a lot better in my head, but I need your feedback in order to improve! No flames though, any flames will be used to roast marshmallows. **

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**Thanks so much to all my followers! I really hope to be able to update this constantly. Please leave more reviews though! i need more motivation to continue writing. :)**

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**Disclaimer: Marvel, PJO and Loki do not belong to me, if they did, I'd be rich. And famous.**

* * *

_Alaska_

Percy entered the meeting room, acknowledging the communications officer's grunt of "Director Fury's on the line sir" and stepped inside, the doors sliding shut behind him to give him a semblance of privacy. As soon as he stepped in, the screen flickered to life, displaying the head of SHIELD in all his eye-patched glory. "Sir," he saluted. Fury nodded, gesturing for him to be at ease. "Agent Jackson," he barked, "Report."

"Sir," he began, "Other than the sudden energy spike that occurred at 2045 hours yesterday, there have been no further changes of interest. Stark and Banner are constructing a device that would theoretically allow them to shut down a portal. Well," he amended, "Stark is doing the constructing; Banner is keeping an eye on the reading."

Fury nodded, looking marginally pleased that things were going smoothly for once. He fixed his lone eye on the raven haired boy, "And the power source?" Percy straightened at that, "Sir, our scientists have found nothing inconclusive. The…power, it disrupts electronic devices sporadically, so they can't get regular readings. That, and they can't even go near it."

"Why not?" Fury asked. "Because it retaliates. That thing seems to have a mind on its own sir. It lashes out at anyone who goes near it. It's a good thing that we have that barrier to prevent any direct contact, but it makes getting samples about near impossible." Percy watched as Fury's face hardened, a sign that he was well, furiously contemplating this turn of events, deciding not to tell Fury about how the power called to him.

"Continue to monitor the situation agent Jackson, see if you can find a way to transport the power."

"Sir, that thing attacks anyone who goes near it." Percy replied, sarcasm lacing his words.

Fury just leaned back and smirked, "Well then Agent, I suppose you'll have to come up with a plan then."

Percy scowled, hating the way Fury always expected him to do something impossible like transporting a liquid that refuses to get close to anyone. He sighed, "Yes sir. I'll try my best, no promises tho-" he was thrown against the table as the whole base shook from the force of the explosion. Fury tensed, "What's going on over there Agent?" Percy hissed, slamming the door open, "What the Had-hell is going on here?!" he bellowed, taking in the alarm blaring and the SHIELD agents frantically running around. "Sir," one of them stopped, "we're under attack!" Percy snarled, "I know that, I'm asking who?"

Another agent stopped, "It seems to be the Chitauri sir! A portal has opened! They're infiltrating the base!" Percy's eyes widened, he cursed and turned to the communications officer who was contacting SHIELD headquarters for reinforcement. "Connect the director to my transmitter, I need mobility, and get me Stark and Banner's lab now!"

He didn't wait for the guy's nod of assent, knowing that he would get it done soon. Sure enough, a few seconds later, he heard the director's furious hissing in his ear. "Jackson, report now!" "Sir," he said, gritting his teeth as he ran down the hallways, "The Chitauri are back, they opened a damn portal here. I have no idea where it is but my guess is that they want what's in the basement. I guess I'll get my chance to try transporting that damn thing."

Percy sprinted down the hallways, forgoing the lift and taking the stairs two at a time. When he reached the basement, he slowed, pulling his gun from its holster. Contrary to popular belief, he wasn't stupid, and if his suspicions were correct, then the Chitauri would be on this level. He crept down the hallway, the silence permeating the level making him twitch in discomfort. He rounded the corner, his gun swinging in front of him. He grimaced when he saw the bodies of the two guards, both with their throats slashed open, their blood painting the ground red. He inched his way closer to the broken remains of the metal door, as silent as a ghost. He could hear the Chitauri's chittering and he leaned carefully around the door, peering into the lab.

What he saw horrified him, Edward and Michael lay in different pieces scattered across the room, while Riley had a gaping hole in her chest, her face frozen in an eternal scream. He felt cold fury rush through him and stepped into the room, delighting in the way the Chitauri all snapped their guns towards him. _Two in front, another two at the back, and one in the middle, _he counted silently, taking in their formation and the way the two at the back were attempting to drill through the barrier. _Oh they won't be getting through that, _he grinned inwardly, _not while I'm here. _The impromptu Mexican standoff was getting old quickly, and he cleared his throat, "If you would please be so kind as to step away from the barrier, you can have a quick death." The Chitauri in the middle, clearly the leader of this rag tag group stepped forward, hissing, "Foolish mortal, the power gem belongs to our master! Perhaps if _you_ left, we could spare your pathetic life."

Percy remained silent for a moment, before shooting the Chitauri between the eyes and rolling to avoid the energy blast that was aimed at his head. He crouched and swiped a leg at the nearest Chitauri, knocking the rifle out of its hand and whirled around, shooting the other one in the neck. He felt clawed hands grab at his shoulders and he slammed his elbow back, grinning at the sound of bones snapping. The Chitauri screeched in pain and Percy took advantage of the opening, driving his fist into the creature's throat, leaving it to collapse to the floor, gurgling noises resounding in the room. He watched the last two Chitauri through narrowed eyes, who watched him warily, clearly realizing that they had underestimated him before. He bared his teeth in a semblance of a smile and rushed forward, sliding under their rifles, kicking one of them in the back of the knee and lashing out at the other. He slid his knife out and stabbed the Chitauri in the neck, turning around to slash at the remaining Chitauri only to find it trying to escape. He snarled, flipping the dagger and flung it, the blade sinking easily into the base of its head. He breathed heavily, adrenaline rushing through his veins as he stared at the bodies scattered around him. He turned to the barrier, placing his hand on it and closed his eyes. He willed the ice to melt, to change its state to that of a liquid, and felt satisfaction when there was a tugging feeling in his gut and the water bended to his will. He was glad, that of everything that had happened in the last three years, the ability to manipulate water had not left him. It was a small comfort to him and it gave him a sense of familiarity. The red liquid hovered impossibly in the air, twisting and coiling, as if beckoning Percy to step closer. He gritted his teeth, unsure as to how he was supposed to transport a floating red liquid that somehow managed to give off an evil vibe without the use of any facial expression. He reached a hand toward the liquid, cursing as it struck his wrist and trying again. After the fifth time the liquid had struck at him, this time his gun, he snarled, "For Hades' sake! Why can't you come in a more convenient form like something that I can actually hold?!" Almost immediately, the liquid shuddered and collapsed into itself, taking the form of a solid red bracelet. Percy stared at the bracelet in surprise. _Are you kidding me? _He thought, _Well then, beggars can't be choosers. _He straightened, and cautiously reached out a hand. When nothing happened, he picked the bracelet up, putting it around his hand. He placed a hand to his ear, "I have retrieved the power source sir." He turned and ran out of the lab, cursing under his breath as he realized that he had to climb all the way to the top level.

* * *

Tony and Bruce had just finished building the device and were n the process of configuring it when the alarm blared, startling the both of them. "Shit, shit shit!" Tony cursed, "What the fuck is going on out there? JARVIS?" _Sir, it would seem that the SHIELD base has been infiltrated by the Chitauri. _The disembodied voice piped up from Tony's Starkphone. "Shit." Tony cursed once more, "Bruce, we gotta get outta here. If they're in here…" "Then there's a portal out there which can be shut down." Bruce finished for him. "But we have to configure this thing first, otherwise it wouldn't do any-"

"Stark!" A familiar voice came over the intercom, causing the two scientists turning to look up at the ceiling instinctively. "Kid?" Tony asked incredulously, grinning as he heard the kid's grumble. "Stark, now's not the time for games, how's that device coming along?" They could hear him panting over the intercom, Tony answered, "Uh, we just finished it-"

"Great!" Percy exclaimed, "stay there, and _do not_ move until I get there."

"Kid, we're not done configuring the thing."

Percy fell silent, then muttered, "Just, hurry up."

Tony and Bruce looked at each other, then scrambled for the device, Tony cursing himself for not bringing his suit. "This, is why I always make a suit that's portable! But no, I had to listen to Fury this once and not bring the suit now didn't I?"

"Come on Tony, there are guns here… I think." Bruce said, looking around the lab, spotting the axe at the far end, near the fire extinguisher. He narrowed his eyes, rushing over to it just as the door to the lab blew open.

"Shit!" Tony cursed, looking up to see the creatures that had appeared in his dreams step into the lab. His eyes widened, and he grabbed the device off the table, kicking forward with all his strength, flipping the table and sending it crashing into the Chitauri. They fell down like dominoes, but it didn't hinder them for long, and they scrambled up, raising their rifles. Tony cursed for the umpteenth time that day, scrambling backwards while trying to configure the device with one hand. He didn't know where Bruce had disappeared to, but he could only hope that the Chitauri hadn't found him yet. This was more than he could say for himself as a Chitauri jumped over the overturned table and landed in front of him.

Bruce felt the door exploding more than he saw it, but he concentrated on his task anyway, praying fervently that Tony would be able to keep out of the Chitauri's way. He took the extinguisher and slammed it against the glass case, satisfaction running through him as t shattered. He heaved the axe out of the case turning around just in time to slam the blade into the throat of a Chitauri. He recoiled in horror as the alien gurgled and fell to the floor, blood gushing out from its open throat. Bruce hefted the axe, realizing how wholly unprepared for this he was, it was usually the other guy who took care of such situations, and since he couldn't remember anything that happened, he never bothered to think about how killing someone-_something_- with his bare hands felt like. He steeled himself, and hacked his way through the Chitauri, pushing all thoughts to the back of his mind, only wanting to make sure that Tony was safe. He ducked under a stray blast, swinging his axe up into the alien's chin and through its head. His stomach heaved at the sight of alien brains scattered on the floor, and he looked up, only to stop short in horror at the sight of a Chitauri looming over Tony. He couldn't get to him in time, and the axe was too heavy to throw. All he could do was watch as the alien fired down at one helpless Tony Stark.

* * *

Percy sprinted as fast as he could from the basement lab, the cold weight on his left wrist a reminder of what the Chitauri had came here for. He passed by numerous bodes, and hoped that the majority of the base had managed to evacuate. He raced past empty labs and rooms, snapping the neck of any Chitauri who had the gall to try and stop him. He skidded to a stop when a group of Chitauri blocked his way, hissing and waving their rifles at him. He snarled, rushing at them and doing a baseball slide, whipping his sword to the side, slashing at their legs. He rolled and stood up, twisting his body to avoid the bladed end of the rifle, his sword striking forward like a serpent, taking the alien's head off in one move. He didn't stop there, moving to stab another chitauri in the chest, slashing the throat of another and snapping the neck of a third. He blew through them like a storm, and stood amongst a pile of corpses. He cursed, this was wasting precious minutes, and he needed to get to where Stark and Banner were _fast_.

He ran up, coming to a stop at the lab, stopping short at the sight of a chitauri standing above Tony stark. He hissed, and threw his sword directly at the chitauri's hand. The Olympian silver blade cut through its hand like a knife through butter, causing its shot to go wild and miss the genius scientist by mere inches. The chitauri shrieked in pain, but was abruptly cut off when Percy sliced its head off. He picked up the sword and hacked at the other chitauri, becoming a whirlwind of death in the lab. Silence descended on the lab suddenly, the only sounds left were the dying calls of the aliens. Tony and Bruce gaped at him, the former placing his hand over his still furiously pumping heart at his close shave with death. He had flirted with death before, but that was the closest he had ever come to dying. Almost on par with the palladium incident. He could still feel the heat of the blast for goodness sake!  
Percy stood motionless in the lab, taking in Bruce's defensive-sloppy, but still defensive- stance and Tony's slumped form. "Let's go!" He barked, "We need to shut down the portal, they're swarming into the base. I've gotten everyone to evacuate already, but we still need to close that thing. It's only a matter of time before they send the fliers."

The two scientists nodded, faces grim. Tony picked himself and the device up. "Come on, we're going on an adventure!" he grinned.

Percy scowled, "Scaling a glacier is not an adventure Stark." He said, walking out of the lab, "And stop quoting the Hobbit!"

* * *

The three of them made their way quickly down the base, "We can't just walk out the front door, there's too many of them there." Percy said, as they reached the ground level. "There's an exit at the other side. We need to circle round and come back to the front though."

"Why?" Bruce asked.

"Because, the front is the only place where you both can climb up. I can easily get up the glacier by myself, but I have no idea how to work that device." Percy replied. "Let's go." He said, darting forward. They weaved through the base, sneaking around like ninjas, if ninjas made such loud noises when sneaking around that is. They made it to the other exit without incident, except for when Bruce and Tony nearly retched at the sight of the torn up bodies scattered on the floor. Percy took the lead once more when they were outside, the cold Alaskan air biting into their skin. He ran up the man made slope that led to the clearing where he was practicing just that morning. He scaled the glacier easily, having some aquatic powers usually helped, but the other two were not so graceful. He helped them up the glacier, glancing back at the base. He tensed when he saw the chitauri gesturing in their direction, "We've been spotted," he said, "how close do you need to get to that thing?"

Bruce replied, "Probably as close as possible, this is a prototype, and has never gone through the testing stage so we don't know how far the reach is."

"Better to play it safe kid." Tony said, grin still fixed on his face.

Percy twitched at that, but refrained from commenting, he looked at the mass of chitauri scaling the glacier and made a decision. "Doctor Banner, Stark, at the far end of the clearing, there's another slope that leads upwards, that should take you close enough to the portal. I will hold off the chitauri for as long as I can, but speed is of essence." He glanced at the portal above their heads, shivering slightly at the void it led to. The two scientists opened their mouth to protest, but he cut them off, "We cannot afford to slowly make our way up, they would catch up to us soon enough, now go!"

With one last glance, and a "Stay alive kid" from Tony, they ran up the slope and disappeared from view. Almost as soon as they were out of sight, Percy held his palm out, parallel to the ground, feeling a tug in his gut as a wall of ice rose of behind the two geniuses. He heard the horde of chitauri stampeding their way up the glacier and drew his sword and waited for them to appear. As soon as they did, they swarmed around him, surrounding him on every side. One lone chitauri stepped forward, its armor slightly different from the rest. Instead of several plates of armor covering its body, it had several additional designs, foot long spikes extended from its shoulders and its elbows. _Damn, _Percy thought, _that's designed for close combat. _The lead chitauri's weapon was also different, it seemed more like a spear than a rifle, except that it was double bladed, and had serrated ends. The lead alien saw him staring at his outfit, and grinned maliciously, "Do you like it little Halfling?" grin widening at Percy's slight flinch, "I wore it especially for you Perseus Jackson." The chitauri hissed, circling slowly around Percy. He tightened his grip on his sword, "How do you know my name?" The chitauri commander threw his head back and laughed raucously, "There is no one who does not know of the fallen hero, _Perseus._"

Percy narrowed his eyes, filing the information away for later use, he spun his sword, relishing in the defensive stance it sent the aliens into, "This is a little unfair isn't it, it's like what? Forty against one?"

The chitauri chuckled, a harsh sound that grated on his ears, "Oh, Halfling," it hissed, "We can fight you one at a time." Percy blinked, then laughed so loudly that it shocked the chitauri into raising their weapons. "Oh, I didn't mean unfair for me, I meant that it was unfair for you." The chitauri bristled at that, and the commander snarled, "Kill him!"

Percy just bared his teeth, body tensed in anticipation as adrenaline rushed through his veins. He surged forward and met the chitauri's attack head on.

* * *

"Oh god," Tony huffed, "I am never _ever_ going hiking ever again."

Bruce just smiled, looking over his shoulder nervously as sounds of battle drifted up. "This isn't the same as hiking Tony."

"We are climbing a mountain. Glacier. Whatever. That's the same as hiking."

Bruce didn't answer, stumbling into the clearing that Percy had told them about. "Woah." Tony said, gaping at the sheer beauty of the clearing before them. "Come on," Bruce said, "We don't have time to stop and smell the roses." Tony followed him, "Its stop and appreciate the ice Bruce."

He set the device down, glancing up at the portal every so often. Bruce helped him finish configuring the device. When it was done, they both nodded to each other, "Well," Tony drawled, "let's see if this baby works."

They aimed the device in the portal's direction and fired.

* * *

A deep rumbling sound reverberated around the clearing causing the chitauri to pause in their attack. Percy took advantage of this and lopped off his opponent's head before turning around. "Well," he said, smirking lightly at the sight of the collapsing portal "seems like backup isn't going to arrive anytime soon." The chitauri commander snarled in response, bringing his double edged blade to collide with Percy's Olympian silver one. It twisted and struck out with its elbow, Percy moving his head to the side at the last minute to avoid having his eye gouged out. He thrust forward, pushing the chitauri off balance and angled his sword downwards to slash at the chiaturi's chest. A deep cut appeared in its armor and it roared n pain, flinging Percy away from it. Percy rolled with the momentum, hissing slightly at the pain, wondering if he had bruised a few ribs. He knelt in position watching the chitauri commander, the only alien left alive in the clearing. He placed his hands on the ice, concentrating. Spikes made of ice flew up, causing the chitauri to move to dodge or get impaled. Percy ran towards the chitauri commander, feinting to the right and stabbing at the chitauri's left flank. He felt the sword tear into flesh and the chitauri's scream of anger and pain resounded in his ears.

He couldn't move fast enough however, as the chitauri slammed its elbow into his shoulder. White hot pain rushed through his body as the spike drove through his shoulder, cutting through flesh and muscle. He gritted his teeth against the pain, locking his knees around his opponent's leg and pulled. They landed on the icy floor, the cold jarring Percy out of his pain filled haze, and he rolled over the chitauri, cracking its head against the ice repeatedly. He then backed up, clasping a hand over his left shoulder, trying to stem the blood flow. The chitauri commander rolled to a kneeling position and swept at Percy. He jumped, and in that split second. The commander brought his blade towards Percy's neck. He blocked the blow, his silver sword standing between him and certain death, and he formed an ice dagger in his left hand, bringing it up to slam it into the chitauri commander's throat. He watched as its eyes lit up in surprise, before dimming, the body slumping to the ground as Percy yanked out the dagger with a loud _squelch_. He breathed heavily, looking around the now bloodied clearing and felt a prick of satisfaction at the bodies piled up around him. His ear piece crackled to life in his ear, "Sir!" Agent Johnson's voice sounded in his ear, "The base has been evacuated completely, orders sir?"

Percy walked to the edge and scanned the base, his powers allowing him to feel that there were still life forms in the base. "Agent Johnson, keep everyone out of range."

He switched the comm. to contact Fury, hearing Stark and Banner stumble into the clearing behind him, the ice wall he put up having been destroyed by one too many chitauri blasts. "The base has been cleared sir, orders?" the comm. in his ear remained silent for a moment, "Destroy the base."

Stark was chattering away nonstop, and as they drew closer, he heard the doctor's gasp at the sight of his shoulder. "Percy, you're injured! I need to-"

"Not now." Percy replied. He glanced at the slab of ice beside him, then down at the base again, Tony continued speaking, "Did you see the portal? It collapsed exactly like the one in New York! Think it has something to do with the scepter too?"

Percy tuned out the one sided conversation. He nodded to himself, the distance should be enough to cause a chain reaction. Unexpectedly, he slammed his sword into the slab of ice beside him, twisting it slightly. The two scientists jumped at the sudden action.

"Uh," Tony began, "I know you have an adrenaline rush but-"

He was cut off by an ominous sounding crack. The world stilled for a moment, the slab of ice collapsed, bringing an entire portion of the glacier with it. The pseudo avalanche bore down on the base, crushing it completely. The sudden silence that followed was deafening, and awkward. Bruce gaped at where the base used to be, glancing between Percy and the destroyed base. "How…?" he stammered.

Percy turned to him, allowing a full smirk to play on his lips, "Well doctor, you didn't think that Fury sent me here just to oversee things did you?"


	4. Chapter III

**Hey guys! So here's the next chapter! not a lot of action here, since I'm trying to set up the background for well, the story. Anywho, enjoy! Don't forget to leave a review! I'm a bit shocked right now that its been only three chapters but I already have 30 followers! Thanks a lot guys and girls for your support!  
**

**Here's to all my followers/favouriters:**

**Ajacks1996**

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**In reply to im a demon kitty: Nope, people don't know that Percy is a demigod. ;)**

**PadmeEponine24601: yeap! Don't worry, Percy's reason for not being with the gods will definitely be revealed. But it will be later on. Much later on. :)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Marvel or PJO. Really wish I did though, at least I'll be rich and have Loki and Percy by my side.**

* * *

The aftermath was, to Tony at least, extremely anticlimactic. After all that excitement of running through the exploding base and up a mountain-_oops, glacier_- and closing a portal to prevent another alien invasion, sitting in a plane-_one that wasn't even his_- on the way back to New York was just _so boring._ Tony sighed again. And got whacked over the head as a result of it. "Ow!" he whined, "What'd you do that for?" Bruce glared at him, "You've been sighing non-stop for the past ten minutes Tony. It's getting annoying." Tony just pouted at him. Sitting across him, Percy opened an eye to glare at him, entire body wracked with tension as distant sounds of thunder rumbled in the sky.

Tony leered at him, "Scared of a little storm?" parroting his taunt towards one god of mischief several years back. Percy opened both eyes and turned his infamous death glare on Tony, making the man flinch slightly. Tony sighed, _again_, when Percy went back to sleep. He took out his Starkpad and fiddled with it, adding and removing certain designs to the device that had shut down the portal. He couldn't wait to get back to his lab, there was no doubt that he had been practically useless in Alaska without his suit, and he didn't want that to happen again.

Of all the avengers, he was the only one who was vulnerable outside of his armor. Steve had his super soldier serum, Clint and Natasha were assassins, their bodies were their weapons. Thor was nearly indestructible and Bruce had the Hulk, who _was_ indestructible. That left him, Iron Man, with a suit that far surpassed any other technology on Earth. He could fly faster than Mach 2 in the suit, but without it? He couldn't kill like Clint and Natasha, and he didn't have the strength to deliver a critical hit like Steve could and he couldn't spontaneously change into some rage monster that no weapon could hurt. It all came down to the suit, and if he hadn't developed that bracelet that allowed JARVIS to connect the suit to him, Loki would have killed him long ago. That left only one option, he had to start training. Physically. he had done boxing in the past, but that was just a sport. he could be counted as fit, but he was nowhere near being able to fight bare handed. His pride stung at the admission that he was weak, but he furiously stomped the feeling down.

_But trained by who?_ Tony wondered, _definitely not the assassins, _he shuddered at the thought, _Natasha would kill him, Clint would be cackling away like some evil witch from Disney_. _Steve was too….overpowered. So was Thor. Bruce didn't even fight hand to hand. _He face-palmed mentally. That only left one person. And that person was sitting right opposite him and probably couldn't even stand him. Tony sighed again, earning yet another whack from Bruce.

* * *

Percy was halfway out of the quinjet as soon as it touched the ground, feeling more at ease with the ground underneath his feet. He stalked straight towards the director's office, blatantly ignoring Stark's shout of "Hey! You just gonna leave us here?"

He ignored the call from Bruce telling him to go to the infirmary, though his shoulder twitched at that, and instead walked briskly through the halls of the SHIELD base. They had rebuilt this base from the one Loki had destroyed when he'd arrived from Zeus knows where. He knocked twice on Fury's door, waiting for his grunt of acknowledgement before entering the room. As the door slid shot behind him, he straightened and focused on the dark skinned man before him. It wasn't easy to intimidate Percy Jackson, especially since he had faced down monsters, Titans, Gods, Primordials and hell itself. Yet, there was something about Nick Fury that made him feel less impulsive and rebellious. Fury stared at him, "Agent Jackson," he greeted cordially. "Sir." Percy said, inclining his head.

Fury gestured for him to continue. "As per your orders sir, the Alaskan base was destroyed. Agent Johnson informed me that there were thirty-four casualties. Of the thirty-four, three were scientists Riley Beckett, Edward Lu and Michael Debson, all of who were involved in the research of the power source, which, incidentally, is known as the power gem."

Fury tilted his head, "Power gem?"

Percy grimaced, "Yeah, the chitauri told me to hand it over to them, they called it 'the power gem'. I'm assuming that it was the gem's power that drew them there. Which, is kinda déjà vu."

Fury narrowed his eyes, "You mean like how the Tesseract attracted Loki and his band of aliens."

"Yes sir."

Fury nodded, turning away to glance at the screens on his desk. "Get the power gem to the lab then, we'll see if they have any luck. And get that shoulder of yours looked at, you're almost as bad as Barton when he's injured."

Percy recognized a dismissal when he saw one, but one thing made him hesitate. Fury saw his hesitation and asked, "Jackson?"

Percy shifted uncomfortably, "Sir, I really have no idea how to explain this other than it wasn't really my fault at all, well no, actually it was my fault, but I didn't mean to let things end up like this! Thing sat the base just happened so quickly and I didn't even have time to stop to think about what I was doing because the first priority was to evacuate the base and to shut down the portal to prevent more aliens from coming in-"

"Agent Jackson!" Fury interrupted, "You're rambling. Get to the point."

Percy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Uh well sir, you see, the uh, gem, is sorta stuck to me…"

Fury stared at him incredulously. "Excuse me?"

Percy sighed, "I didn't have a choice, I didn't know how to transport the thing so I just uh, talked to it. It became a sort of wristband and I put it on-"

"Excuse me," Fury interrupted, "Let me confirm this. You placed an unknown alien artifact which has been proven to be at least partially sentient and is prone to attacking people who get too close and just magically transformed at your command to a transportable form on your bare arm?"

Percy shifted, "Well," he said, "when you put it like that, it does sound stupid."

Fury just glared at him.

Percy raised his hands in defense, "Not my fault, we were kind of being attacked. And that's the problem now, I can't remove the thing."

"Can't remove it." Fury stated, voice a complete deadpan.

"Yeah… I tried, on the plane, but it won't come off. Its well, stuck."

Fury just stared disbelievingly at him for a few moments, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like 'How do I always get involved in these kind of stuff', then sighed loudly and pinched his nose. "Fine, that's going to be a problem. But if you worked with the two brightest minds this planet has to offer, we should be able to get it off you."

Percy's eyes widened, "Woah wait wait wait. You're sending me to Stark and Banner?" Percy was cursing internally, Banner he didn't mind, the guy was actually quite nice, after you got over the fact that if you made him angry he would beat you into a pulp. Stark on the other hand, the man was annoying and arrogant. He reminded him of Heracles, without the brute strength and with the genius intellect. And thinking of Heracles led to him thinking of Zoe…

"I'm not sending you to Stark and Banner; I'm sending you to the Avengers tower."

"Sir" Percy protested, "You didn't even want them to know that this artifact existed, and now you want to introduce it to the entire team?"

"There's been a change of plans Agent Jackson, the artifact was meant to be a solo research project, but it's attracted the chitauri. If you hadn't gotten there in time, that thing would already be in their hands and I don't want a repeat of New York." Fury said, nodding towards the blood red bracelet encircling his wrist. "I didn't want to involve the team, but they're the best option. Stark and Banner would be able to study it and as much as I hate to admit it, Stark's a genius, he'd be able to find a way to remove it. And study it. If the chitauri try to invade again, the team's the best option we've got of defeating them again. Got it?"

Percy scowled, understanding the rationale behind the director's orders but not liking it all the same. He nodded.  
"You won't be joining the Avengers, you're not part of the team. If and when they are needed, I don't expect you to join them in battle."  
Percy snorted, "I'd rather keep out of the camera's range sir."

He knew better than to fight with the avengers, even though it pained him to not be able to defend his home city. The Avengers were already in the spotlight. There were numerous press conferences, advertisements, fan made websites and most of their skirmishes went on the news. If he battled alongside the avengers, he'd be caught on camera. And that was the last thing he wanted. Director Fury nodded, "Go find Stark and Banner, they should be in the infirmary, which you should be in. I will inform Romanov that they are to wait for you"

Percy nodded, still scowling at the prospect of being in the Avengers tower. It wasn't that they were bad people or anything, just... They were heroes, they saved people, and he didn't deserve to be among them. He sighed. Given Thor's inclination to address people by their title, he could only hope-and pray to whichever god or goddess out there who was listening- that he didn't call him the 'Hero of Olympus'. Percy groaned inwardly, how did he always end up in such situations?

* * *

After Percy had scampered off to who knew where, Tony and Bruce made their way slowly to the infirmary. They didn't really have any injuries. Just some bruises here and there and some minor scrapes from climbing up a glacier with bare hands. Nevertheless, they still walked towards the infirmary. Well, Bruce walked; Tony kept trying to escape back to his tower.

"But Bruce!" Tony whined, "I'm not even all that injured!"

"Tony," Bruce sighed, and "We've been climbing up a glacier. A glacier. Pure ice. It's customary to check for any signs of hypothermia."

"Well then why couldn't we do that in Alaska? Or on the jet?"

"Tony," Bruce said, getting exasperated with his friend's excuses, "the Alaskan base was destroyed, and the jet doesn't have the right equipment."

Tony just rolled his eyes. "I'm telling the world; I'm being dragged, forcefully, to the infirmary when I'm not even injured."

"Stop being such a drama queen Stark." A new voice injected.

"Oh wow," Tony drawled, "if it isn't Miss Katniss Everdeens herself."

Clint scowled and punched Tony in the arm, "Shut up tin man."

"Oh hey, hey. Don't insult the suit okay? Or I'll kick your ass."

Clint grinned, "With what? Those floppy arms of yours?"

Tony scowled. "Remind me again, who customizes your arrow heads?"

Clint widened his eyes, "You wouldn't!"

Tony leered at him, "Oh hell yes I would Legolas."

"Boys, enough fighting." Natasha said, coming up behind the guys, giving Bruce a small smile as she drew closer. "Wow, its like, the team's almost assembled. We only need Cap and Point break and we can get some shawarma!"

"Shut up Tony." Everyone said at once.

Tony placed his hand over his heart, "Oh, I'm hurt, I'm really really hurt guys." Natasha glared at him. "And uh girl." He added hastily.

"Get to the infirmary you two" Natasha said, "We'll wait for you at the launch pad." dragging Clint by the arm.

Bruce and Tony stepped into the infirmary, where they were subjected to various tests (read: tortures) and questions. Tony was getting tired of the entire interrogation: "do you feel any lingering cold?", "are there any parts of your body that feels numb?" And the best one, "do you feel okay?"  
He replied monotonously, "No. No. And no."

At the doctor's alarmed look, he rolled his eyes and said, "You're smothering me, I am so not okay with that. Its claustrophobic"  
He hopped out of the bed a second later ignoring the doctor's cry of "I'm not done yet!".Honestly, he appreciated a sexy nurse any day of the week but this was becoming too much. He sauntered over to where even Bruce was looking annoyed at their incessant badgering and brushing off any nurses' offers to help, claiming that "I'm a doctor as well, I do actually know my own body". Bruce noticed him and gave him a strained smile, which he returned fully.

He opened his mouth to speak when the sound of the door sliding open caught his attention. His grin widened as he saw one ruffled (and thoroughly annoyed) Percy Jackson standing in the doorway. The SHIELD doctors swarmed over him, delighted to have a new victim to torture, sorry, treat, and he laughed at the almost constipated look on the kid's face.

Percy scowled even more, he hated doctors with a passion, they reminded him of his inability to heal fast, unlike how he was able to do so in the past (which was just a lie, nothing but a lie). Nevertheless, he remained still as the doctors treated him. He refused the anesthetic, gesturing for the doctor to stitch his shoulder up quickly. The doctor hesitated, but when he turned his glare on, he quickly nodded and got the equipment ready. He scowled even more when he saw Stark wave cheekily at him as he and Banner walked out the infirmary. He sighed; holding still to prevent the doctor from stitching wrongly; hopefully, Fury had already informed Romanov that he was joining them on their flight back to the tower. he didn't really fancy taking a jet all by himself.

* * *

Tony grinned as he and Bruce walked towards the quinjet, spying Clint and Natasha waiting for them inside one of the jets. "Ohhhkay! Time for take off!" He said, clapping his hands together.

Natasha smirked, "Not so soon Stark, we have a guest."

Tony raised an eyebrow, "Oh really. Pray tell, who invited someone else to my party?"

Clint rolled his eyes, "It's not just your tower-" "Ah but I built it!" "-anymore stark. It's the called the Avengers tower. So technically, it's all of our parties."

"So, who is it?" Bruce asked tentatively.

Natasha opened her mouth to reply, "Agent Jackson."

"What?" Tony exclaimed, "Why?"

Natasha shrugged carelessly, "Fury didn't tell me."

"Oh great!" Tony huffed, throwing his hands up in the air, "Fury didn't tell Romanov. Fantastic, now we can all just sit around and wait for one of his secrets to pop up or blow up in our faces."

"Please Stark," another voice cut in, "Don't be such a drama queen. I am hardly one of Fury's secrets."

They all turned to see Percy climb up the quinjet, Tony's smile widening.  
"Well then, if it isn't iceman himself!"

Percy scowled, "I'm here on Director Fury's orders. I'm supposed to join you in the Avengers tower, something research related." He glanced in the direction of the pilots, "but classified."

The four seated avengers glanced at each other and nodded. Percy sat down and prepared himself for a long ride.

* * *

**Please remember to leave a review! Thanks! Reviews motivate me to write! On a side note, it seems that I should be updating every Tuesday. I will try my best, no promises, to update regularly. **


	5. Chapter IV

**A/N: So here's the next chapter guys! Hope you all enjoy it! Not a lot of action though… Sorry about that! **

**Also, it seems that I would be updating every Tuesday. I really really have to thank all my followers, truth be told, I never expected to get so many followers for my story! 49! in four chapters, tht has to be a record for me. :) Million thanks to those who favorited/followed this story!**

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**Sorry if I missed anyone out!**

**On a side note, I am trying to write my chapters, because although I do have inspiration, all I want to do right now is go onto Tumblr and drown myself in Sherlock feels. I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't watched series 3 yet, but I will just say that it is insanely good. Especially the last episode. Then again, now we're on hiatus again. Sigh.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own marvel or PJO… sadly. **

* * *

_And maybe when the night is dead, I'll crawl into my bed_  
_ And staring at these 4 walls again_  
_ I'll try to think about the last time I had a good time_  
_ Everyone's got somewhere to go_  
_ And they're gonna leave me here on my own_  
_ And here it goes_

_-I'm Just A Kid, Simple Plan_

"So... Let me get this straight." Bruce said, pushing his glasses up from where they slid down his nose. "You made the alien object change its form with a mere command, then placed that very same object on your wrist and now it's stuck there with no clear way of removal." Percy sighed, Bruce was beginning to sound a lot like Fury, and two Fury's were never a good thing. He opened his mouth to answer when Tony cut in, "Woah, wait up a sec. Are we just gonna forget how SHIELD lied to us? Again?"

Percy frowned, "There was no need for the avengers to know about the artifact. It isn't an enemy that the Avengers needed to fight, nor was the world in any danger.

"No danger? Oh really, tell me what that whole fiasco in Alaska was then!" Tony shouted, "We were told that we only had to deal with suspicious readings, there was nothing, absolutely nothing, about an alien artifact. And SHIELD really thought that it was a good idea to keep this a secret? Remember what happened the last time SHIELD kept an alien object in its basement?"

Percy fell silent. The five avengers, the four that were on the jet plus Steve who was in the tower, were gathered in the living room of the Avengers tower. He knew that Stark had decided to convert his tower to house the avengers, so that it was easier for them to assemble if they were needed. For obvious reasons, Thor was absent, and despite what he'd faced down before, the scrutiny of the five avengers was unsettling. Especially Steve's disappointed gaze. He had been on the end of so many of those that it drew up painful memories of the past. He pushed those dark thoughts away and said, "I was under direct orders not to tell anyone except the lab techs that were supposed to study the artifact."

Tony scoffed, drawing attention to him, "Oh right, orders. I always pegged you as the rebellious type Jackson, never knew you'd follow so faithfully." He sneered. Percy stiffened, "Just because you don't follow orders yourself Stark," he hissed, "doesn't mean that others don't. Orders are there for a reason; not following them sometimes may result in unnecessary death. Don't judge me for following them when you disobey orders so quickly." Percy's glare intensified, suppressed memories threatening to rise up again.

"Yeah?" Tony challenged, "Tell me kid, how many people died in Alaska?" Percy's eyes flashed, and Tony saw the hurt in it for a moment, before it was replaced by a cold mask. He felt a pang of guilt, but his pride wouldn't allow him to apologize.

"Thirty-four casualties." Percy reported monotonously, "But it doesn't change the fact that I was acting under Director Fury's specific orders."

"Oh, because Fury's orders have had such a good track record so far." Tony drawled, sarcasm dripping off every word.

Percy opened his mouth to reply when Natasha cut in, "Stark, just give him a floor to live on."

"Excuse me?" Tony exclaimed, turning to her in surprise, "This is technically my tower-"

"And what do you have to lose Stark?" Natasha said, pinning him in place with her steely gaze. "You get to do tests on this artifact and you get to use your new suit if the chitauri comes. New toys for you Stark, isn't that what you've been complaining about? All you have to do is let him stay here. It's a win-win situation."

"But-" Tony protested. "You want to let him stay in a lab elsewhere where the people there won't be able to defend themselves?" Clint said.

Tony scowled, knowing that he was fighting a losing battle, "Fine, he can have the 86th floor."

Percy rolled his eyes, anger rushing through him, _I'm not some object to be carted around and_ _it's not like I want to stay in close proximity with Stark anyway, _he clamped down on his anger though, it wouldn't do anyone good if he released his infamous anger. He nodded gratefully to Romanov and Barton as he rose from his seat, following Stark into the elevator.

"Right, JARVIS, take us to the 86th floor." Tony said. "Okay here's the layout, the 93rd floor was where we were just now, the living room, recreation room, the kitchen etcetera etcetera. The floor below that is my floor, and the floor below mine is Bruce's. It's reinforced so he can Hulk out if he wants to. The 90th floor s Thor's, because it's easier for me to reinforce the two levels at the same time so he wouldn't break anything with his freaky Asgardian strength. 89th is Cap's floor, 88th is Katniss and Nat's. 87th is the gym and sparring area."

The lift door opened just then and Tony gestured to the entire floor, "And this floor, mi amigo, is yours. If you need any customization of sorts, just tell me. If you need any help, ask JARVIS."

Percy looked around the vast expanse of the room. _Well,_ he amended; _it's more like an apartment. A really huge one._ He turned to Tony and raised an eyebrow, wondering at Stark's sudden change in attitude. Tony shifted uncomfortably under the intense stare, he felt like those emerald eyes could see right through his soul, "Look kid, I didn't really mean what I said just now…" At Percy's flat stare, he corrected himself, "Well, I meant it, but I didn't mean to insult you or hurt you or anything. Just that, every time SHIELD keeps something from us it doesn't end well."

Percy looked at him for a moment, causing Tony to fidget uncomfortably before nodding once. "Thanks." Percy said simply, turning to explore the room when Tony cleared his throat. He turned around, "Yes Stark?"

"Uh…" Tony began, scratching the back of his head, "I was kinda thinking… I can't just rely on my suit all the time and well… I was wondering if you could, spar with me or something." He held his breath, cursing himself for his lack of eloquence. Percy nearly smirked, if he didn't know how hard it was for Tony to ask him such a question. "Why not Agents Romanov or Barton?" he asked.

"Cause they're assassins who are more likely to kill me than train me. And I can't ask Steve either because he'd break my bones." Tony replied.

Percy, contemplated this request for awhile, there was no harm in teaching Stark how to defend himself, he would be strengthening the avengers. Besides, it wasn't like he had anything better to do other than train himself. Percy nodded, dismissing the feelings of nostalgia at having a student to train, "Fine, I'll train you, every Wednesday after dinner?"

Tony grinned, "Hell yeah! Thanks kid!"

Percy smirked, "Don't come crying to me when you wake up sore the next day."

Tony just laughed, "Oh, waking up sore is probably a constant for me." he winked, laughing again at Percy's disgusted expression and went back into the elevator.

Now alone, Percy glanced around the room, it was sparse, but looked surprisingly comfortable. The small living room had a flat screen television and a soft looking couch. He walked further in and found several rooms, shaking his head at Stark's blatant flaunting of his wealth. He opened the door to one room, taking in the large bed in the middle and the bathroom connected to the main room. He placed his duffel and sword on the bed. He wasn't able to grab everything from his room at SHIELD but he could always go back to get it. He looked at the sword on his bed, remembering how it came into his hands, allowing nostalgia to overtake his senses for a moment.

* * *

_Exhaustion seeped into his bones, he was dead tired. He had been running from Camp half-blood to Camp Jupiter and back again, trying to negotiate some semblance of treaty between the two camps. Octavian had been adamant that the Greeks were plotting destroy the Romans and had spread that rumor. Unfortunately, the Romans hadn't needed a lot of convincing because of Leo's attack on the camp. Granted, that wasn't exactly him, but the Romans didn't know that. They had been promised that the Greeks wouldn't attack but the exact opposite had happened. Percy sighed, the negotiations were tough and Octavian was annoying him to no end. He really wished he could just bash his head in or let someone else take over the diplomatic discussion, but the former would be counterproductive while the latter was not possible because he was the leader of the Greek camp and he wasn't about to let Octavian think that he was a coward. _

_On top of that, he had to scramble around the world to bring half bloods back to camp depending on their parentage. He was understandably exhausted, and all he wanted to do was just get back home and crash for the next week or so. He stepped into the house, nearly panicking at the lack of people in it when he remembered suddenly that his mum and Paul were on their honeymoon. He smiled to himself, they had gotten married last summer, but Paul's schedule didn't allow him to take leave until recently. They'd gone to Europe, charitably sponsored by Hades as a gift. He'd been shocked that Hades, of all the gods, was willing to do that for a mortal. When asked, Hades had just replied, "I owe you a great deal Perseus, to provide for such a trip would hardly put a dent in the fortune I have amassed over the millennia." Percy had been stunned into silence, but had graciously accepted it. Hades was a surprisingly nice person to talk to after you got pass the bitter persona. Percy walked into his room and collapsed on the bed, not even bothering to undress himself. He was about to enter Morpheus' realm when he felt a presence in his room. He rolled out of bed and uncapped Anaklusmos in one fluid movement and swung it at the presence. The sound of his sword striking another hard object resounded in the room and he moved for another attack when- "Perseus stop!" Percy grinded to a halt, barely stopping his blade from reaching the other person. The haze of sleep lifted from his mind, "Dad?" he asked tentatively. "Honestly Percy," Poseidon's voice came again, "you could have taken my head off with that." _

_Percy moved to flick the light switch, seeing his father appear in the light with his trident in his hand. He blinked sleepily, "That wouldn't have taken your head off at all," he pointed out, "it wouldn't have been strong enough." Poseidon smiled, "Well, it's good to see that your reflexes are sharp, but that's not why I'm here."_

_Percy let the words sink into his mind before he groaned, crumpling to the floor, "If this is some kind of mission or quest, can it wait till morning? I'm dead tired dad."_

_Poseidon's brow furrowed in confusion, "Mission? No no no, I'm here to give you your birthday present!"_

_It was Percy's turn to frown in confusion, he turned to look at the calendar hanging on his wall and started in shock as he realized that today was August 18__th__. "Oh." He said. _

_Poseidon shook his head, smiling softly at his son's absentmindedness. He leaned his trident against Percy's shelf and materialized a package from nowhere. He presented the package to Percy, who took it hesitantly. He gestured to the package, "Go on, open it." Poseidon said. Percy glanced at him, and unwrapped the package, gasping at the silver light that emanated from the package. He held it up, hands grasped tightly around the hilt of the sword. The silver sword reflected the light of the room and sat perfectly balanced in his hands. He looked at his father, who was smiling softly at him, "What material is this? I don't think I've ever seen it before…"Poseidon grinned, "You have actually, I believe you've seen Artemis in action before. Her knives are made of the same substance. Its called Olympian Silver. Like Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold, it can harm demigods, gods, monsters and anything Greek. On the other hand, it can affect more than the Greeks too."_

_Percy looked up in confusion, then alarm as the implications of the sentence sank in, "Wait, what? More than Greeks, you mean mortals? Why would I need a weapon that can harm mortals?" Poseidon just smiled pityingly at him, "You're always running around doing missions for us gods Percy, and I know you haven't ran into any mortals who might put up resistance while on said missions, but its only a matter of time before you do or the gods ask you to deal out a punishment to the guardians of their children."_

_Percy recoiled, "You're asking me to kill people?" _

_Poseidon looked down sadly, "Not every demigod child has a good family to take care of them Percy, some have neutral families, while others… they may be abused, beaten and humiliated. Some of the gods don't like it, and they would want you to deal with the mortals. I'd thought you'd prefer a sword over another weapon, like a gun." Poseidon chuckled, "Though a gun wouldn't do you any good, what with your horrible aim.  
_

_Percy stared at him in horror, not even laughing at his father's poor excuse for a joke, "So what, you gave me this as a birthday present and tell me that there are strings attached?"_

"_Percy-" Poseidon tried. "No!" Percy shouted, "How can you stand there and give me a present while saying that you want me to kill with it? You can take this back, I don't want it. I don't want something that requires me to do something immoral!"_

"_Perseus Jackson!" his father boomed, shocking him into silence. "You _will_ accept this gift, and you will use it if any of the gods desire for you to deal with their children's guardians accordingly." _

_Percy just stared in disbelief at his father who softened his features, "I'm sorry Percy, happy 19__th__ birthday son." Poseidon said, vanishing into mist, leaving the smell of the ocean lingering in Percy's room. _

_The sword became heavy in his hands all of a sudden, and he threw it in the far corner of his room, feeling hot tears of frustration burning behind his eyelids. He couldn't believe it. He had been elated at the thought that his father had remembered his birthday when even he himself had forgotten and had bothered to give him a present. In hindsight, he should have known that there was a reason for this sudden gift. The gods didn't give anything for free, he should have known that his own father was no different. _

_He remembered the advice the nymph at the beach at Santa Monica gave him "beware the gifts". Granted, she wasn't referring to this, but the advice still stood anyway. It dawned on him that his father had never given him a present that had been solely for him, it was often to fulfill other purposes. The sand dollar he received on his sixteenth birthday had been used to bargain for the cooperation of the river gods to destroy Kronos' army, the armor he had received on his seventeenth birthday had been meant as an offering to be sacrificed to ask for help from a sentient and enormous sea creature* that had helped his father in his battle for Atlantis against Pontus, the primordial of the seas. He stared at the sword gleaming faintly in the moonlight at the far corner of his room for awhile longer, then collapsed on his bed and straight into Morpheus' realm. That night, his dreams were filled of blood and screaming and flashes of silver._

Percy shook himself out of the memory. The prospect of the sword and its intended purpose had been horrifying at that time. Now though, he was glad that he had decided to keep the sword. It certainly made things easier when he was in SHIELD. Despite everything that had happened, one thing remained constant. He still sucked at shooting at anything. He smirked at his self-deprecating thoughts, heading into the bathroom to catch a quick shower before JARVIS announced that it was time for dinner.

**A/N: Hey guys! So, we get to know more about Percy's past in this chapter. Honestly, the flashback was supposed to be happy, but look how it turned out, all angsty... Not a lot of action sorry, but as I said before, this should be a slow progressing story. I don't want to rush everything so bear with me! **

***this is an imprtant reference, I'm not sure how well I referenced it, but it will come up later in the story! I don't know, maybe some of you can guess what it's referring to. ;)**

**Please leave a review thanks! I really need more reviews before I continue updating! No flames too!**


	6. Chapter V

**A/N: Hello again! Thank you all so much for followng this story! I'm really flattered by the amount of followers I have! **

**Oh yes, in reply to Saraarena and all other readers who are thinking the same thing: No, this is not a Percabeth fanfiction. I'm sorry to all Percabeth fans out there, but for this plot to work, it isn't going to be a Percabeth story. I do like the couple, so no, I won't be writing any Annabeth hate or anything along those lines. There will be a legitimate reason for why she and Percy are not together, but it will not be along the lines of either one of them cheating on the other. Because frankly speaking, Percy's fatal flaw is loyalty, so I doubt that he'd cheat on his girlfriend. Annabeth is smart, and she loves Percy, so I doubt that she will cheat on him too. **

**That being said, I probably should have mentioned this from the start, guess it slipped my mind, but this WILL be a slash fanfiction. I'm sorry to people who dislike slash stories, but rest assured, I won't be doing anything too...explicit. I have no idea how to write _those_ kind of scenes, nor do I want to. But still, I do hope you will give this story a chance after finding out about this! :)\**

**Anyway, usual shout out and thanks to all my followers!**

**Ajacks1996, fruitynf, Wolfeyy, percyolympian, KendraSorenson, Icye, shoshanagble, Mistake Experience, Poseidon23, TheOneandOnlyGoddessofAwesome, chaos007, Mariepc, FictionFan2014, xXxIRISxXx, KappasRule, ModernZombieGuy Productions, Max0820, im a demon kitty, MockingScout, Weakness Hunter, clickclick4, nyxisnight, latinagirl-reader2010, jackie-chan1230, Saraarena, Kipperinca, Ame Deri-chan, WolfassassinKing, daben8776, maxsanches, Littleheartache, Reality is wrong, combatbootsgirl101, AnnabethPrimroseGranger, Zarathos' chain, .slytherin, Shadow Cards, Greenmonkey1099, sylver grey, snowboarder292011, Ariel Night, TorchMaster, shunshinking, I'mSufferingOfCerealBoredom, Gracie613, nessa11997, AltoValGal, Gabrielle Avis, SynneStray, Seithr-Kairy, Raknaroeg, Shinigamidragonslayerdemigod99, TNTDynamite1999, kittykatz101, XxsonofchaosxX, KittyKatKateebirrdee, Luckyreader2000, DifferentKinfOfAsian, pjsta, Little 3 Forever, Dream and Hope, Artemis's best Huntress, Lazy Historian, mythologyrox, TamashiiWolf, 00CoralStar00, herocrazed, LoganRiley.**

**Disclaimer: Same old same old. I don't own PJO or Marvel. **

* * *

They had all gone their separate ways when Tony brought Percy down to his room. Bruce had made a beeline for his level, green tingeing his skin. Natasha hoped that he made it to his level before the Hulk came out. Despite it having been three years since her first encounter with the Hulk, the thought of facing his wrath again instilled in her a primal fear that she could not shake off. She and Clint went down to their own level, contemplating whether or not they should get in some sparring time in the gym.

Steve went back to his own level, telling JARVIS, and he still felt awkward talking to thin air even though it had been several years, to deposit him on the 89th level. He sighed when he stepped out onto his level. He felt grateful that Stark had decided to convert his room into something that resembled the 40s in which he lived his prime in. Although, there were some discrepancies, like the flat screen television that was present in his bedroom.

Steve hadn't wanted that in his room, claiming that he didn't know how to use it, but Tony had overridden all is complaints and installed one of those in his room. Steve had just rolled his eyes and decided to let Tony be. Despite their initial head-butting on the Helicarrier, Steve had come to accept Tony's quirks as a part of him. It had taken a painful lesson for Steve to realize that Tony was nothing at all like his father, and that he should never have tried to force Tony to be like Howard.

The genius inventor had become a close friend to Steve, and Steve had learnt to enjoy his company, excepting when Tony was being a petulant child.

The soldier took out his sketchbook, flipping through the pages contemplatively. He had filled his original sketchbook, having to purchase another one. He had drawn the avengers, individually and as a group, of their downtime and of their battles, whichever came to him as inspiration first. But as he flipped through his sketchbook, he blushed lightly, realizing that he had drawn one avenger in particular, more times than the others.

He flicked through his new sketchbook, _hmm, _he thought, _I have to add Percy into this…_

The captain frowned when he thought about their latest household addition. The boy, man really, had been hardened, more so than when he'd first saw him amidst the rubble that occupied New York. Steve didn't know what had happened to make such a young man become the hardened person that he was today, but he felt sad anyway, Percy should have had his whole life ahead of him, not stuck in SHIELD being an agent and risking his life for people who would never know*.

Steve had seen the look in Percy's eyes before, it was the same look that had been in the prisoner's eyes during the war*. He sighed, he hoped that being in the avengers tower would give him a chance to unwind and enjoy himself, even though this was not strictly a vacation.

His thoughts were interrupted as the alarm blared and JARVIS' voice sounded in his room, _Captain Rogers, Director Fury is on the line. He is requesting an immediate meeting._

Steve narrowed his eyes, rushing to change into his Captain America outfit and grabbing his shield as he ran up to the living room.

* * *

On the other floors, the other avengers had heard the alarm and JARVIS' announcement. In the lab, Tony cursed, placing his tools down and stalked to the living area. Bruce got out of his meditation trance and slowly made his way up, his 'suit' already ready within him. Natasha and Clint stopped their sparring session and quickly suited up. They both knew that Fury would not request for the avengers to assemble immediately unless it was a threat that required the presence of all six avengers. He, like the other avengers made their way up to the top most level where their briefings were usually held, much to Tony's dismay. Steve was the last to arrive at the living room, and he saw Natasha and Clint standing near the holographic screen of Fury, while Tony and Bruce huddled together near the couch. Steve nodded to the other avengers then turned to Fury, "Sir," he began, "What's our mission this time round?"

Fury stared at each of them, "Doom's been creating more doombots again, they're at Central Park. I'm sending all of you in because we need to get this under control quickly before the doombots can destroy any more. There are civilians there, and I want you to do damage control, don't let the doombots get further than Central Park, am I clear? I want you to contain them in one area and take them out. "

Steve nodded in understanding, "Is that all sir?" he asked. Fury nodded, "Do your job Avengers." With that, he disconnected from them.

Tony rolled his eyes, "Do your job Avengers." He mimicked, "When do we not do our jobs?" None of the Avengers even deemed it fit to answer him. He just pouted and walked out to the balcony, the Iron Man suit folding up over him. "JARVIS, tell the kid where we are and that if we're not back by dinner, he can help himself to anything in the kitchen."

_Already done sir, _came the reply. "Awesome," Tony said, "Don't take too long to arrive at the party guys!" Blasting off at the last sentence.

The four other Avengers simply rolled their eyes at his childish antics and waited for the quinjet to come pick them up. "I think I'll sit this one out first." Said Bruce, "I don't want to destroy too much of Central Park." The other three nodded and placed their commlinks in ther ear. "Let's go guys." Steve said as the quinjet landed on the roof of the Avengers tower.

* * *

Percy had heard the announcement that JARVIS had made, and his heart skipped a beat when he heard that the enemy was attacking Central Park. He was reminded of the Second Titan War, where they'd imprisoned Hyperion in a maple tree. He smirked lightly at that, wondering if he should pay a visit to the titan some time soon. He heard JARVIS' second announcement as well, and several minutes of staring blankly at the wall, he decided to get up and make some food for himself. He stepped into the elevator and instructed JARVIS to take him to the 93rd floor.

When he reached, he made a beeline for the kitchen, checking the cupboards and fridge for any edible food until he found a pancake mix. He was disappointed at the lack of blue food coloring but he didn't mind normal pancakes either. He went about making his pancakes, pouring the ready-made mix into the pan. After several minutes, he served the pancakes, placing them on the plate and went hunting for any syrup. He had just sat down and was about to start eating when the low rumble of thunder made him pause. He knew it was most likely just a normal thunder, not one caused by Zeus, but the thunder still made him uneasy anyway. That, and the fact that he was on the 93rd floor of a building made him feel as though he was infringing on Zeus' territory.

He shivered and tried to return to his food, but the thunder rumbled even louder, and he got up from his seat, walking towards the balcony where Tony had suited up earlier. He glanced up at the darkening skies, watching the swirling clouds with apprehension. He watched in fascination as the clouds above him gathered together, forming a sort of funnel. The funnel looked almost familiar, like the sky was opening some kind of wormhole… He blinked once, eyes widening in realization and horror and threw himself backwards instinctively, just in time to allow the Bifrost to slam down on the balcony where he was standing a fraction of a second ago. He felt an ice dagger materialize in his hand as he gripped it in an ice-pick manner behind his back. The rainbow colored beam of light then retracted to reveal a man completely decked in armor, with a blood red cape flowing behind him. The man hefted his hammer and stared at him, before a huge smile broke out on his face, "Perseus Jackson!" he boomed, "It is an honor of the highest degree to meet a hero, especially one such as you." Percy blinked, dissolving the dagger into vapor and bowed, "Mister…Odinson, it's an honor for me as well."

Thor just laughed, "Come now Perseus! You may simply address me as Thor, the Hero of Olympus should be welcomed as a friend not a stranger!" he looked around at the empty tower, asking, "Where are my comrades? Heimdall had said that they were in the tower."

Percy replied, "They just got called to Central Park, something about Doom causing some mayhem there."

Thor nodded, "Yet you remain here?"

Percy started in shock, "Oh, no, I'm not part of the Avengers, I'm just living with them on director Fury's orders. And, Thor, please do not address me by my title or my full name, just Percy is fine. The Avengers… they don't know who I am. Or what I am, and I'd prefer to keep it that way."

Thor looked at him thoughtfully, confusion marring his face for a moment, but he nodded his assent anyway. "Very well then Perseus, I shall abide by your wishes. Where is this Central Park?"

Percy just sighed at the Asgardian's use of his full name and pointed him to where Central Park was from the Avengers tower. He watched as the red draped avenger spun his hammer and took off.

He continued watching as the skies turned dark and flashes of lightning illuminated the sky in the distance. With the assurance that New York was not going to be destroyed anytime soon, he turned and finished up his pancakes and went back to his own level to take a short nap.

* * *

Deep in the bowels of Asgard, in the dungeons meant for the lowliest of prisoners, a figure draped in rags lifted his head at the slight ripple of magic that seemed to pass through him. The other occupants of the dungeon cells did not give any inclination to having felt anything but the figure knew better. Those criminals had no inclination to anything related to _sei__ð__r_, but for all the Odin Allfather had bound his magic so tightly that he could not even feel any of its presence. But the Allfather had forgotten one crucial thing: he was a _seiðmenn, _and as a _seiðmenn,_ he could sense what the mortals would call magic. He was not a sorcerer who had learned his craft, rather, he was born with his _sei__ð__r _within him. As a result of that, he was able to sense the tiny ripple of magic that flowed through the golden realm. He opened bright emerald eyes, a smirk worming itself onto his face. _That fool of king thinks he can shut me away and forget about me, _his mind hissed, _he has underestimated me, and I will show him what the consequences. _

The ripple of magic that passed through the realm had not just been a surface touch for all _seidr_-users, there was power within that ripple, proving that something powerful had been unleashed upon the realm. Loki lifted his piercing green eyes, gazing into the distance; for all that he had devoured books in Asgard's library all those centuries ago, he would not have been able to place a name to the sense of raw power he had felt. But after his time in the void… he knew that this could only mean that an Infinity Gem had awoken. The trickster was not sure of which Infinity Gem had been activated. _The Space Gem is already active and locked within the vaults of Asgard, _he mused, _and the Mind Gem remains with Tha-the Mad Titan. That leaves the Power, Soul, Time and Reality Gems. It should not be Time or Reality as those would have a different magical interference due to their nature. It is most likely the Power Gem, _he thought, _considering the sheer amount of power that passed through Asgard… _

His lips lifted in a smirk as he drew the power of the gem into him. It was definitely not enough to free him, but he squirreled it away into him nevertheless, storing it within him. This sudden influx of power had been more than what he had managed to put aside in the time that he had been locked up in this cell. He could feel the barrier blocking his magic weakening each time he stored his magic. He lifted his wrists to the light, observing the runes inscribed into them. It was only a matter of time before he would get out of this cage. _With three of the gems awakened, Tha-the Mad Titan is sure to be looking for the last three. _He thought, _it seems that even the great Allfather cannot force his control over the Nine Realms any longer. _

Loki threw his head back and barked out a laugh, startling several of the other prisoners. "War is coming Odin," he hissed, "In your foolish arrogance, you will fall, and I will laugh as Asgard _burns_."

A feral grin spread across his face, the dim lighting making him look near the verge of insanity.

The hysterical laughter that rang throughout the dungeon sent shivers down the spines of prisoners and guards alike_. _All of them ducked their heads, unwilling to face the prisoner who was once the king of the golden realm.

* * *

* The prisoners that Captain America freed during their raid. I'm referencing this to this story as Percy has been imprisoned. For those of you who reads the Heroes of Olympus series, you will know that he fell into Tartarus. I'm taking a different outlook on that entire portion. He will have fallen into Tartarus, but not in the way that is described in the books.

**Please leave a review! I don't like threatening people with not updating unless I get xxx amount of reviews, but I would really like to have more reviews and feedbacks on my story. Tell me how you like the story, if the descriptions are good enough or if the fight scenes should be improved. Thanks!**


	7. Chapter VI

**Hello again! So so so sorry for the late update! Was really busy yesterday, have to prepare for Chinese New Year and all that. That and I received a huge dressing down from my mum as well, for not changing the batterie in the radio. -.- Anyway, hope that you all have been enjoying this story so far! For now, I will just say that the characters listed for the story are listed because they are the main characters. Even if it doesn't seem like it. That, and I'm trying to figure out how to add more characters. On a side note, I am so so so so sorry for fans of Natasha and Clint! It's not that I want to exclude them per se, more that I am not entirely sure that I will be able to capture their personality properly. If any of you have an idea of how I can portray them, I would be glad to listen to your advice! **

**Also, I realise that there are a few scenes in this story which may not fit into the main storyline, if I have the time, and if I can juggle two stories at one go, would you all want me to start a series of oneshots of what happens in those scenes?**

**Oh yes, I, as you can probably tell, suck at coming up with titles, would you all mind if I switched back to chapter numbers? **

**Thanks to all my followers again! **

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**Disclaimer: Don;t own PJO or Avengers, never have, probably never will.**

_He woke up in a dark room, his arms chained somewhere above him. His head felt groggy, and he tried to shake it to clear it up, only to regret that action as the room spun around him and his stomach threatened to rebel. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing himself to get his stomach under control. When he opened his eyes again, he was relieved to find that his nausea had subsided. He glanced around the room-cell- that he was in, there was barely any light, and from what he could make out, there was nobody else in the cell with him. He shook the chains binding him experimentally, grimacing when he found them strong and secure. He hissed, extending his senses to search for any presence of water around him. Whoever his captor was, he or she was good. There was barely any water save the dampness on the walls that would not be of any use in the event of an escape. He tried to catalogue his injuries, his head was a little fuzzy, _probably a concussion_, he thought, his arms were sore from being strung up, his side burned a little, and he did not know if it was because the wound was shallow or because his concussion diminished the pain. He was startled out of his cataloguing when the door creaked open. Dirty amber splashed against the wall in front of him, and he realized that the door was behind him. The room's newest addition walked in, footsteps echoing in the hollow cell. The tension in the room rose several notches and he couldn't take the suspense any longer, "Who are you?" he spat, "and what do you want from me?" _

_When no reply came, he was beginning to think that his captor had decided to toy with his mind, making him believe that there was someone else with him…_

_He froze when he felt a finger caress the back of his neck, the touch gentle and intimate, a parody of the action of a lover. His breath hitched, _nonono, this is not happening, _he thought desperately. The finger trailed downwards, stroking his back as another hand came to close around his throat, the cold spreading throughout his body, causing him to shiver. The presence of a warm breath against his ear caused him to flinch, but he was held in place by the hands that held him against the other, their bodies pressed together. "What I want Perseus Jackson," A voice whispered in his ear, causing his eyes to open in shock and horror, "is _revenge_." The hands gripped him tightly and yanked his head to the side. Malicious golden eyes gleamed in the dark, and he felt his heart stop in fear. "No…" he whispered, "This isn't happening…" The man chuckled, the sinister sound reverberating in his ear, "Oh I promise you son of Poseidon," the man hissed, baring his teeth in a mock smile, "This is very real. Your precious gods have left you for dead. They abandoned you to _die_! To rot in this hell hole." The man took delight in the harsh breathing of the prisoner, placing a hand on his chest in a mocking gesture of comfort. He grinned even more as the boy flinched at the contact. He pressed his hands against the boy's chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart and pressed his mouth to his ear, "Welcome to hell, _hero._"_

_Percy screamed._

He jerked out of bed, heart thumping furiously as the aftermath of his dream echoed in his mind. He could still hear the taunting laugh of the Titan Lord as he toyed with him. Percy gritted his teeth, banishing the memory from his mind, he did not need Tartarus to haunt him now, not when he had work to do. He glanced up at the ceiling, "JARVIS? What time is it?"

_It is currently half past seven in the morning agent Jackson, _the AI replied, _there is breakfast in the kitchen if you are amenable to the idea._

Percy nodded and voiced his thanks, padding over to the bathroom to wash up. He stared at his own reflection n the mirror, grimacing at how unkempt his hair was. He spotted dark circles under his eyes and scowled at his haggard look. He hadn't been sleeping well the past few nights, and he couldn't pin point the reason why. He hadn't taken any missions that would have triggered a memory in him, nor had anything happened in the tower to illicit such a memory. He undressed, stepping into the shower, letting the warm water calm his nerves. He had been living in the tower for several weeks now, and true to his word, Thor had not called him by his title at all, choosing to use his full name instead.

He had stayed up late many nights to allow Stark and Banner to study his newfound bracelet-_wristband damn it!_-and they made more progress than the SHIELD scientists. Perhaps it was due to Stark's eccentric way of thinking, but they had felt firsthand the effects of threatening Percy. Well, not verbally, but if anyone came to him with the intention to threaten, they were slammed backwards by a wave of power. In the few weeks that he had been staying with the avengers, he had learnt how to harness that power. He realized that it was semi-sentient and that it responded to his thoughts at times.

Obviously, Fury was well, furious, at this development, claiming that it was 'an unknown artifact' who's 'properties have not yet been determined' and that it was 'dangerous to use'. Percy had just rolled his eyes, the thing was already stuck on his hand and it was already dangerous from the moment he touched it. It hadn't harmed him yet, no sign of any radiation poisoning whatsoever, so he was going to assume that it wouldn't harm in the future either. Besides, it wasn't like he was going to turn down a potential weapon. He needed the extra boost, if only to compensate for his weakened state now…

He shook his head, willing himself dry after he was done with his shower. When he wasn't in the lab or in the gym, he was training Stark in hand to hand combat. Despite his lack of prowess in hand to hand, Stark had been fighting in the suit long enough that he had gained some form of instinctual movements that allowed him to dodge. His past dabbles in boxing had also lent its usefulness in his training, although it wasn't much. All in all, Percy could conclude that Stark wasn't as unfit or untrained as he thought he was, just that if he went up against any professionals like Barton or Romanov, he wouldn't stand a chance. _Then again, _he mused, _not many would stand a chance against SHIELD's finest. _

He finished brushing his teeth and changed into a fresh set of shirt and track pants, concealing his dagger in his clothes. Percy took the lift up to the 93rd floor, walking to the kitchen to start his breakfast. He was greeted instead by Steve who was making pancakes. Steve looked up at him and smiled warmly, "Morning, would you like some?" he said, gesturing to the pancakes he was making. Percy nodded to him, "Yes please." Steve served his own pancakes, and then set about making a new batch of pancakes, adding the blue food coloring to the mix.

The avengers had had strange reactions to Percy's weird fetish for blue food, Tony going so far as to tease him about having an obsession with the color blue, while Thor just cocked his head to the side and asked if all Midgardians had such weird quirks. Natasha and Bruce had kept quiet respectfully while Clint had laughed with Tony. When Steve asked him, he replied that it had been an inside joke between him and his mum. That shut Tony and Clint off quickly, both of who were quick to apologize. He had waved them off, claiming that it was a weird fetish anyway.

Nevertheless, he was touched by their efforts to include him into their ragtag group, calling for blue food if it was possible, and adding blue coloring to the food if it was cooked. He didn't know what surprised him more, that they seemed so domestic-not that he was going to say that in front of them, or god forbid, _Natasha_, he liked to still be able to reproduce thank you very much-or that they could cook. Well, some of them could cook. Clint and Tony just burned the kitchen down. They had a roster, and those who could cook would take turns making breakfast, lunch or dinner. It was usually Natasha, Steve or Bruce, sometimes Percy, if it came to breakfast, since his knowledge of cooking extended as far as pancakes and omelettes.

He thanked Steve when he served his pancakes, and the both of them sat down, eating quietly. "So," Steve began, "what are you going to do today?" Percy chewed thoughtfully, "I think Stark and Banner mentioned that they wanted to continue studying the gem, they've already ran practically every scan they know of, so I think they're going to try having me use it. So my whole day would probably be spent in the lab."

Steve frowned, "Is that safe though? Considering the last time..."

Percy fell silent, his eyes clouded over, "We'll just have to hope that nothing happens."

Steve sighed, "Do me a favor will you? Drag them both out of the lab when it's dinner time. Tony is bad enough, but Bruce can be as bad too."

Percy smirked and saluted, watching the Captain roll his eyes, "Yes sir!"

He finished up his breakfast and placed them in the sink, heading down to the lab to find Stark. The door to the lab slid open as JARVIS allowed him entrance. He found Stark and Banner hunched over the table, the former gesturing wildly to the screens while the latter fiddled with…something on the table, Percy squinted, trying to see what it was but their bodies were blocking. He called out to them, but the loud music drowned his voice. He rolled his eyes at their obliviousness, the Minotaur could have come barreling down at them and they wouldn't have noticed anyway.

He walked over and tapped them both on the shoulder, smirking when Tony jumped a foot in the air. "Holy crap! Kid!" he exclaimed, holding a hand to his chest dramatically, "Don't ever do that again. Seriously, I felt my heart stop for a moment!"

Bruce smiled, cleaning his glasses, he hadn't had that severe a reaction and he was well practiced in dealing with surprises. "You're here to continue the study?"

Tony raised an eyebrow, "Thought that was tomorrow?"

Percy stared at him, "It _is_ tomorrow Stark." He said slowly. Tony and Bruce blinked slowly, "Oh." Bruce said.

Percy looked at them, "Do you want to continue this another time…?" Tony jumped up immediately, "No! We're good, just a little shocked, but that's what true love for science is isn't it? So passionate about our love that we-"

Percy face-palmed, "Stark! Shut up!"

Tony just grinned at his annoyance, "Come on, let's try out some new stuff."

"Like what?" Percy said, cocking his head to one side.

Bruce took over, "We want you to try using the gem while we set up scanners, we can observe the energy patterns that the gem emits."

"Do you want me to use it as in, like a defense or like an offense?"

Tony frowned thoughtfully, "Both, it may be different each time, so we can track the energy signature and observe the patterns." Percy nodded at their suggestion, glad that he was wearing suitable clothing. They moved to the training room, where Tony had created robots controlled by JARVIS to stimulate a fight and to test reflexes. There were several levels, from easy all the way to impossible. Only the assassins had ever tried the last level, and even then, they came out bruised in more places than he'd ever seen before. Thor and the Hulk would probably be the only one who could come out unscathed, Thor because of his superior Asgardian physiological makeup and the Hulk because well, he was naturally indestructible anyway.

He heard Stark's, "We're good to go kid!" and JARVIS' _"Difficulty level set to difficult agent Jackson." _But he kept his eyes closed. He breathed in and out rhythmically, hearing the whirring of the machinery but not reacting to it. Time slowed, he concentrated on the well of power at his hand, feeling more than seeing the power unravel itself, until all he could hear was his calm breathing. Tony and Bruce were hidden behind a screen, and they watched in awe as Percy stood stock still, the red bracelet coiled around his right wrist like a snake began to glow, casting blood red illusions on the boy. It unraveled, and liquefied, coiling and twisting impossibly. It curled around his half open palm and extended further and further, until it became a three foot long sword. They both shivered at the sinister quality of the sword while Percy continued standing there silently. He had shifted his grip on the sword, but his eyes remained close. Seeing the robots get into position surrounding the SHIELD agent, Tony said, "JARVIS, fire it up."

Percy continued breathing lightly, sensing the robots surrounding him, when he heard Stark give the command to start, his eyes snapped open, revealing bright green eyes ringed with blood red.

He ducked under the first swing, whirling around and slashing at the bot's midsection, cleaving it into half, following through with the momentum and slicing another robot's arm. He punched the robot with his left hand, taking of its head with his right. He stabbed forward, punching through a robot with ease, dragging up the sword through the robot, cleaving it in half. He turned just in time to block a swing, the metal arm slamming against his sword with a loud clang. He gritted his teeth, knowing that his own strength was outmatched by a robot's. With a little concentration, the sword shifted to a dagger. With the sudden absence of an opposing force, the robot tilted forward, allowing Percy to slam his dagger into its body repeatedly, causing it to become a tangled mess of wires and metal. He changed his grip to a reverse grip and slashed at another bot. He stepped on a crouching robot and jumped over a whole group of them. He landed and rolled, turning to slash the legs of another bot, blocking another's downward swing with his dagger and kicking it back into another robot.

He did a roundhouse kick, knocking one of the machines down and stabbed it in its throat, severing its head from its body. He dashed forward under the robot's guard and slashed upwards, slicing its head into half. He felt a robot behind him and turned, but it smacked him in the side before he could attack it. He was flung into another robot, and he wound his hand around its neck and twisted, the head bent to one side. He threw the body away and jumped backwards, landing lightly on his feet. There were but a handful of bots left and he grinned at them, feeling the adrenaline course through his veins. He crouched, his muscles tensing and leapt forward, slashing and stabbing at the robots, alternating between Greek and Roman style. He was a whirlwind in the training room, and it wasn't long before he stood alone amongst a pile of scrap metal and wires. He breathed heavily, looking around at the destruction with satisfaction. He looked up at where Stark and Banner were staring back at him in shock. He smirked at their faces, wishing he had a camera with him, "That enough for you?"

Tony stared at the kid in wonder, "Uh, that should be enough yeah." He managed to spit out, mind still boggled by the fierce display of power and speed. Percy nodded, moving to the exit when the alarm blared throughout the tower. He whirled around, eyes wide and breathed, "Chitauri." At the same time, JARVIS' voice resounded, "_Sir, a portal has opened above the tower. Numerous Chitauri, though no fliers yet. They're entering the tower sir."_

Tony cursed, "Not again! JARVIS, deploy the Mark VII!"

Percy ran out of the training room, rushing to the highest floor. He heard Stark scramble to get into his suit. He burst out into the living room, ducking instinctively as Mjolnir flew above his head. He turned to glare at Thor, who just shrugged apologetically and called his hammer back to his hand. The assassins were already there and fighting back the chitauri. He snarled, twisting his wrist and slammed the dagger into a chitauri creeping up behind him, the short blade elongating to a sword once more. He jumped into the fray, hacking and slashing at any and all chitauri, their bodies dropping like flies. Tony and Thor took care of the ones outside on the roof, while the captain, the assassins and Percy took care of the ones in the tower. Bruce stayed in the infirmary, deciding that the Hulk was not needed in this fight. They had almost cleared the living room when Iron Man slammed into the balcony, suit sparking.

The four of them turned in shock, as a chitauri appeared in the living room. It was holding a staff, a long golden staff with an azure orb of energy occupying the claw-like protrusion at the end of the staff. It thrust its staff towards the four of them, a wave of power slamming them backwards. It raised a hand, flicking its wrist, binding the three avengers to where they lay. Percy snarled, getting up on his feet, but the chitauri was faster, slamming him backwards into the wall. He crumpled into a heap on the ground, his head pounding loudly, drowning out all other noises. He tried to get up, sensing the chitauri draw closer to him, but it forced him down with another wave of power, immobilizing him. The butt of the staff slammed into his wrist, just below where the gem was coiled around, having been forced back into a dormant state as Percy's concentration was disrupted. He gasped in pain as the staff pierced through his wrist, crushing bone and flesh. In his blurry vision, he saw the chitauri crouch over him, over the pounding in his ear; he heard vaguely the shouts of the avengers. He stared up into soulless pits, feeling a clawed hand grip the side of his head. "Foolish human mortal." It hissed, gripping his head even tighter, causing Percy to gasp out in pain. He lay immobile on the floor.

Percy heard the alien mutter something under its breath and struggled to get free, some animalistic instinct urging him to flee.

The chitauri finished its incantation, growling gutturally.

Percy's world exploded in a haze of fire and searing pain.

* * *

**Right, sorry for the cliffhanger! Leave a review please! Tell me how you found the fight scenes, I think I really suck t those kind of descriptions. Till next chapter! **

**By the way, I think that the suit in the Avengers is Mark VII or Mark VIII, if its wrong please leave me a note, no flames though, thanks!**

**Happy Chinese New Year everyone! Gong Xi Fa Cai! :)**


	8. Chapter VII

**Hey guys, I am so so sorry for the late update! Again. Two weeks in a row is atrocious. Anyway, I hope you all had a great weekend, especially for those of my readers who celebrate Chinese New Year! :) Oh yes, Happy Vietnamese New Year to Weakness Hunter! Really sorry about the late updates though. **

**As usual, many many thanks to all my readers and followers!**

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**Do enjoy this chapter! Oh yes, this is where you won't see much of Percy anymore. But don't worry, He'll come back. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Same as all other chapters before this, I don't own PJO nor do I own the Avengers.**

* * *

The Avengers minus Bruce were sitting in what was left of the living room where Captain America was giving his report to Fury, the stoic man becoming slightly disgruntled when Steve reported the damages and the casualty. When that was done, Steve rubbed a hand over his face tiredly, looking at his team mates. They all sat around in varying degrees of solemness. Despite the fact that they had only known Percy for several weeks, he had wormed their way into their hearts, becoming the little brother that they all looked out for. No one was unaffected, not even the assassins, though the only indication they gave were the frown on Clint's face and the emotionless mask on Natasha's. Tony sat in a corner, uncharacteristically quiet, and though the rest of the team had told him that it wasn't his fault, they knew that the feeling of guilt wasn't so easily appeased. Tony carried the blame that he could have closed the portal earlier, even though the Captain, Natasha and even Bruce had told him that it was a matter of coincidence, the timing of the events just coincided at the same time. There was no way he could have gotten from the lab they were testing in to the level where his upgraded suit was held, to the rooftop immediately. Unless he could teleport. Nevertheless, Tony couldn't assuage the feeling of guilt, and carried this burden like he did with Yinsen's* a lifetime ago. None of them had suffered any fatal injuries, seeing as how there wasn't as many chitauri as the battle. They had mostly concentrated on the tower, aiming for the avengers themselves, rather than spreading out to the city, so there was hardly any collateral damage as well.

The only person who had been affected was Percy, and the teen lay in the infirmary with no sign of waking up. The five heroes were silent, Tony remembered the agonizing scream that ripped from his throat when the Chitauri sorcerer gripped his skull. They didn't know what the alien had done to the kid, only that it had been excruciating and that none of them had been able to do anything to stop it.

_In a way,_ Tony mused, _this is worse than Yinsen._ At least back then, he hadn't seen how Yinsen fell, only the aftermath of it. Here, Tony could pinpoint the exact moment that Percy's scream was cut off. And he didn't know which was worse.

Thor had claimed that it was magic, or _seidr_, as the proper term was, but confessed in the same breath that he had little to no knowledge of it, only that it was considered a womanly art in Asgard. There were rarely any males who would dare to practice _seidr_, for fear of being disgraced and called _ergi_*, the highest form of insult to a male. The glare from Natasha would have sent him into a laughing fit if the situation had been different.

"Loki had always been the one to practice _seidr_, he surpassed his tutors and our mother even though Father discouraged him continuously." Thor said hesitantly.

_Well,_ Tony thought, _there goes our hope of finding out what's wrong with the kid._

The lift _pinged_ and five heads swiveled to it watching Bruce step out of the lift. Steve looked at him, taking in the doctor's haggard appearance, "Bruce, what is wrong with him?"

Bruce gave him a look, "That's the problem, there isn't anything wrong with him."

The avengers traded confused glances, Bruce took off his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose, "There isn't anything wrong with him physically. His vitals are normal, he hasn't suffered from any internal injury, he doesn't have a concussion, though there's a slight bruising at the back of his head, but not enough to render him unconscious or to cause any form of internal swelling. The only injury he has is the various small cuts and scrapes from fights, and a crushed wrist, which would not have sent him into unconsciousness. By all accounts he should be awake. Even his brainwaves are normal, and by normal, I mean when we are active kind of normal. Not the sleeping kind of normal. I don't know what is keeping him comatose."

The avengers all looked at each other, frowns apparent on their faces. "There isn't anything else we can do to wake him up?" Clint asked.

Bruce shook his head, "Tried it already, didn't work."

"Then it must be an enchanted sleep." Thor said, "I can try to ask anyone in Asgard for help. Although…" he trailed off, "I do not know if they would be willing to help a mortal."

Steve nodded, "We can't sit by and do nothing, Thor, you do whatever you can. But I don't want you to spend too much time searching for answers. If you can't find any, come back immediately."

He raised a hand to stop the protests from Tony and Bruce, "He is a part of our responsibility, since Fury entrusted his safety to us, but we cannot shirk our normal duties. Our priority isn't Agent Jackson, it's the Avengers."

Tony glared at him and huffed, stomping off to the lab to vent his anger. Bruce gave Steve a sad but understanding look and followed Tony. Clint and Natasha nodded at him, their faces grim, while Thor went out to the balcony, the Bifrost taking him away after his brief shout of "Heimdall!"

Steve was left alone in the living room. He looked at the destruction surrounding him and rubbed a hand over his face, he really hated being a leader sometimes.

* * *

Tony was in his lab, JARVIS blasting ACDC at the maximum volume while he worked. He was annoyed and frustrated at Steve's orders. Logically, he could understand that the majority was more important, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few and all that, but hadn't the kid already suffered enough? The chitauri landed him in SHIELD, and now they landed him in a coma. They should be helping the kid, he just got placed in a magically induced coma for goodness sake! Tony banged his fist against the table, ignoring the twinge of pain in his hand. Okay so maybe he felt a little protective of the kid, but in his mind, he felt that the kid deserved to be protected. He didn't know what the kid had gone through, but he had eyes that were too old for a twenty-one year old person.

He sighed, guilt settling in his stomach like a heavy weight. He made no move when the lab door slid open and the music abruptly cut off. The sudden silence sent his ears ringing. "It's not your fault you know." Bruce's voice sounded from behind him. Tony gripped the edge of his worktable harder, ignoring DUM-E's whirring at his side. "I didn't close that damn thing in time. That's why that freaky alien thing could come out."

"Tony…" Bruce sighed, "We didn't know what that thing was. We still don't. We can't change anything now but we can work on preventing such a thing from happening in the future."

"Yeah well that would only work if we can even get anything concrete out of these fucking readings!" Tony snarled, slamming his hand against the table.

Bruce remained silent, he knew that Tony didn't like being responsible for someone else's pain, especially not after what happened to Yinsen. "I can't get anything at all. I've had JARVIS scan the living room for any residual traces, I've had JARVIS look through the entire attack, from when that _thing _blasted me to when it blasted all of you to when it did its weird alien voodoo thing." he said, wriggling his fingers in explanation for voodoo.

Bruce just frowned, "Nothing at all?"

Tony shook his head, "There are some traces of gamma radiation here and there from that thing's scepter, but there isn't any evidence of any energy spikes, and that's impossible because that thing very clearly showed off his power!"

Bruce placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, feeling his tenseness. "We'll figure something out Tony."

Tony snorted, "Will we?"

* * *

They didn't figure it out.

The six heroes were weary. There was tension everywhere, the team worked well enough in battle, but outside of battles, the friction between the team grew stronger. Tony and Steve got into more and more arguments, Bruce would disappear for hours on end to his own floor, the vague sounds of crashing telling the rest of the team that he Hulked out more and more often. Natasha and Clint stuck together more often, holed up on their floor and shunning the rest of the world. Thor more often than not went to the rooftop to brood, the perpetual storm clouds above the Avengers tower a telltale sign. The team was fracturing, and no one knew how to patch the cracks. A comatose boy-man, Thor insisted- lay in their infirmary, not showing any signs of waking. The team was called out of the tower to deal with more and more threats every other day, each more formidable than the last. They were strong, but not infallible. They prevailed now, but there would be a foe which they cannot overcome. and it seemed to be near. Doom had always imbued his bots with magic, but he had finally upped the ante. The doombots were practically indestructible now, capable of dealing ab explosive offense while having a near impenetrable defense.

Tony was ready to rip Doom to pieces. If the Avengers could even find the real him. Normal easy to smash robots aside, the sheer amount of doombots released each time was enough to give the heroes a headache. Add on Doom's newest creation of magic and technology combined, it left the Avengers with an even bigger headache. So far, only Thor could actually destroy the bots. The Hulk could too, if given enough time to smash through the spell placed on the bots. The rest of the Avengers weren't so lucky. No matter what they did, they couldn't get past the spell protecting the doombots. Tony and Bruce tried to analyze the robots when they managed to bring one back, but even that was unsuccessful as it self destructed mere moments after acquiring it.

Their comatose patient remained as he was a month ago. Tony would have cracked a joke about how he was Sleeping Beauty or Snow White waiting for their true love's kiss if he had been in the mood. Or if the situation hadn't seemed so…desolate. Tony Stark was not a man who liked to wait. He couldn't stand the fact that the villains were getting the upper hand over them and they couldn't do anything but try to defeat what was thrown at them. It didn't feel productive, it felt like they were just taking everything that was thrown to them. Thor hadn't managed to find anyone who knew of enchanted comas in Asgard, and like Steve had ordered him to, he came back to the Avengers.

Tony was sitting in the infirmary, beside Percy's bed. He looked at the boy who lay as still as death, covered by a white blanket. The kid looked normal, as though he was merely sleeping, but Tony knew better, they had all tried their own ways to wake him up, but all failed. He sighed, feeling his anger and frustration grow even more. Apart from the normal villains they had to deal with, there was also the occasional Chitauri attack. Despite their attacks coming in small numbers, this new group proved to be smarter and far more resilient compared to the group that the trickster god had led into New York three years back.

The people were becoming restless and afraid, and press conferences could only do so much to convince them that the 'Heroes of Midgard' had everything under control. _No_, Tony thought, _the Avengers are losing their credibility_. Already, four out of six avengers couldn't even defeat Victor von Doom, the esteemed leader of Latvaria. They couldn't even control the damage made by the Chitauri anymore. They could barely even save the hostages taken by a psychopath**. and that was the most basic of situations!

Not only that, but the Chitauri were becoming more and more bold, they switched between ambushes and attacking SHIELD bases outright, becoming unpredictable. He didn't know how the aliens even knew the location of some of the bases, seeing as how secluded it was. He knew, obviously, but then again, he had JARVIS. And he was Tony Stark. They were looking for something, but the Avengers just didn't know what. SHIELD didn't tell them anything either. Five of them were mere mortals, one of them not so much, while the sixth member was a god who was also a prince and as such had princely duties.

They had committed the most amateur mistake ever. They underestimated their enemy. And it cost them.

They had managed to find a handful of survivors, but that one SHIELD base was completely and utterly decimated. The Avengers had foolishly thought that the Chitauri were of the same make as the ones Loki had brought to New York three years ago, mindless and with only one thought in their head: attack.

These Chitauri were far from mindless. They were an organized group, any weaknesses they had were cleverly covered by their strengths. They were intelligent too, being able to sneak into the base undetected for hours until an agent discovered their presence by mere chance. The worst thing of all, this bunch not only had a sorcerer not unlike the one they sent to the Avengers Tower, perhaps even the same one, but they could shapeshift***. By the time Tony had managed to uncover who was a Chitauri and who was not, most of the base occupants had already been dead.

The guilt ate at Tony, he knew he should have been faster, just as he knew that no one would blame him. But the thing that grated at him the most was the fact that he had been present at the Alaskan base, and he saw firsthand how ruthless they were. Percy had told him about the Chitauri in the basement and the ones he fought against on that glacier. They'd known how to hide and concentrate their attacks, creating distractions so that they could fulfill their main purpose with none the wiser. The only reason why they failed in Alaska was because Percy had been there to stop them in time.

They weren't stupid, Tony knew, far from that, they were actually damned smart, and yet he still underestimated them time and again. Their technology was on par, if not superior, with the current human ones, and that was saying something because that included Tony's inventions and some of his inventions weren't even on the same level as the ones on the market. That, and they had learned how to conceal their portal.

Doom's magic was more than enough for the Avengers, throw in Chitauri magic, the occasional madman and crazy unrequited lover**** and they were scrambling around like blind mice. Tony and Pepper had been trying to do damage control, speaking to the press and the public about how the Avengers had everything under control. It worked for the first week or so. But as the attacks became more frequent and the death toll became higher and higher, the public lost their faith. The avengers were failing and crumbling and there was _absolutely nothing _they could do. The Avengers were faltering.

All the attacks and recent events did bring out one question though, and surprisingly enough, Clint was the one who had brought it up. They had just come back from defeating (read: attempting to defeat) another of Doom's newest creation. Magically enhanced doombots that apparently didn't break as easily. They had all just crashed on the various couches when Clint suddenly voiced up, "Hey guys…", they all looked over to him, seeing him frown thoughtfully, "I really hate to sound sympathetic or anything to that bastard but, what the hell was Loki doing?"

Thor blinked, slightly affronted on his brother's behalf but focused on his friend's words instead. "What is your meaning friend Barton?"

Clint hesitated, "I mean, we've seen how the Chitauri work, we've seen how they're capable of organizing an ambush and an attack. We know that they are capable of guerrilla warfare and it doesn't match their behavior three years ago, when they were mindless and following the orders of a madman."

Tony had just shrugged casually, "Maybe they evolved or something. Never know with aliens, no offense point break."

"No," Natasha voiced up, "I get where Clint is coming from, the attacks they have organised have shown that they already have a leader, one that knows exactly what he wants and is capable of planning and plotting clever attacks and distractions to obtain it. And," She looked at Thor, "if it is true that Loki is locked up somewhere where he has no chance of any interactions, then it is most definitely not Loki. Which means that, if Loki isn't their leader, then he wasn't really aiming to dominate Earth."

The avengers all shifted uncomfortably, it didn't seem right that their so called public enemy number one was apparently not the one in control. Things had been easier and far more convenient when the issue of the trickster god remained black and white. Thor on the other hand, felt hopeful, _if his brother wasn't truly in control of the whole invasion then there was perhaps hope for him yet._

"We're all forgetting one thing though," Bruce interjected quietly, the rest of the team turning to look at him, "If Loki isn't the Chitauri's leader, then who is?"

Tony was cut out of his musings when JARVIS said, "_Sir, Mister Odinson is back in the tower."_

Tony grinned, _finally, _he thought, the god of thunder had been gone for several days now, promising to search for anyone who would be able to help them.

* * *

_Percy's dreamscape_

_The barren wasteland extended as far as the eye could see, the black void hung above the planet's surface like a yawning abyss. Space whales flew through the crevices in the planet's surface, their armor creaking as they turned to avoid the rock walls. Chitauri soldiers scattered over the surface of the planet, fighting, squabbling, training. They steered clear of the monstrous whales, lest they become the creature's meal. Their armor gleamed in the dim light shed upon the planet's twin moons, the blood of the weak saturated the ground beneath their feet. In this place in the middle of the Void, only the strongest survived. _

_A portion of the planet jutted upwards at the highest peak of the planet's uneven surface, ____a grotesque mockery of a throne, _metal and bone decorated the throne, reflecting whatever light reached the surface of the planet, casting a sinister glow upon it. 

_A violet colored being sat upon it, golden armor encasing his muscular body. Vicious red eyes stood out in the dark, the entire being's demeanor screaming malevolent despite the casual position the alien was sitting in, with one leg crossed over the other._

_At the base of the throne, a figure knelt, hunched over as if to protect his body from an assault. The purple figure shifted, uncrossing his legs, extending a giant hand towards the figure. He gripped the boy by the throat and heaved him up, delighting in the pained gasps the abrupt movement caused. His grin only grew wider as bright oceanic orbs glared back at him despite the pain that must surely be filling the boy's body. _

_The purple titan grinned, "You would make a beautiful gift to Death, Perseus Jackson. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you see it, I still have need of you."_

_Percy spat at the alien before him, stifling another gasp as the being's grip tightened further on his throat. He managed to spit out, "I've seen Death, and I don't really think he'd appreciate me as much as you think he would."_

_He smirked as the alien roared in anger and flung him against a rock, gasping as his back came into contact with sharp bits of stone, jostling his fractured ribs. He blinked harshly, trying to focus his vision against the pain emanating from his abdomen with every breath he took. A strangled yell escaped him as the giant grabbed his throat and dragged him up the rock, his back slowly shredded by the sharp surface. _

_He felt hot breath on his face, "You will not disrespect the Mistress Death filthy mortal." The titan growled, "Once I tear this power away from your veins, I will send you to her personally. Slowly, intimately, until you are screaming for her. And I will take pleasure in ripping your soul apart with my bare hands."_

_Percy choked out a laugh, forcing himself to stare directly into the titan's malicious ruby eyes, "You have _no idea_ how many others have said that, and I'm still here yes?" He grinned, a blood-filled, terrifying smile, "The last people who told me that now lie rotting away in Tatarus." he hissed, "I'd love to see you try _Thanos._"_

_The purple giant tightened his grip and threw the hero onto the ground, slamming a foot onto his midsection, feeling bones groan and snap beneath his boots. He relished in the agonized scream that escaped the boy's throat, "I am Thanos, the Mad Titan, the one in favor of Mistress Death, I am nothing like those pathetic godlings on your precious Earth. I am far more powerful, you seek to destroy me? Not even Odin Allfather in his youth could destroy me, what more can a puny mortal do?"_

_The titan was rewarded with silence punctured by harsh gasps of breath, then, "Go…to…hell…"_

_A wicked smile adorned the titan's face, "We already are in hell little hero." He crooned._

_The titan stepped off the boy, ignoring the hacking coughs behind him, turning around to beckon his faithful servant. _

"_Yesss massster?" The Other questioned, bowing before the titan._

_Thanos smirked, "Break him."_

* * *

*** I'm pretty sure all Iron Man fans know this, but for the sake of those who don't or forgot, Yinsen is the old Asian man in glasses who operated on Tony and attached a car battery to him when he got captured in Afghanistan, he also helped Tony build the first Iron Man suit, and later sacrificed his life by buying Tony time to finish charging his suit. **

**** This won't be in the story, but I could probably do a side one shot, if anyone is interested.**

***** In the comics, Chitauri can shapeshift, but it wasn't shown in the movie.**

****** My reference to Amora, who supposedly likes Thor romantically, but he never reciprocated.**

**A/N: Wow, okay, another cliffhanger. Oops! I'm sorry (not really) for the part about Percy at the end! Honestly, I was thinking of it going a different way, something similar, but not so…dark. Damn. It seems that I can't write anything happy. Oh well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review; reviews motivate me to write more! No flames though, constructive criticism only! Flames will be given to Loki to play with!**


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